Letters to the editor

Doctor deficiency

Insurance provider may be putting different face on choice

Editor, The Times:

Regarding "Regence tells 8,000 people they must find new doctors" [Times page one, May 25]: Boeing engineers had already "selected" their personal physician under the Regence Select Plan, but now 18 percent (8,000 of 45,000) are being told to pick another, or pay more.

Regence has implemented some excellent quality-improvement efforts in the past, but it has now launched a prototype with perhaps sound benchmarks, but flawed data. If Airbus designed planes with an 18 percent tolerance, we would expect to see rudders flipping to the left and its planes falling from the sky.

A 10 percent reduction in the physician pool will also cause the remaining busy physicians to increase their work by 11 percent, which may approach an unintended consequence of overload failure.

As a former engineer, I would not be fooled by the cosmetic purge of physicians, who still remain in the residual Regence pool. As a physician, I would favor genuine quality interventions with open disclosure of the measures used. Most important, the data collected to make the selections must be accurate.

It is fortunate that Regence is not using a guillotine, as this folly of this revolting revolution can still be reversed.

— Gerald N. Yorioka, M.D., Mill Creek

The executive prescription

For large employers like Boeing, Regence designs insurance plans specifically tailored to the employer's needs. The Times failed to mention that the reduction in doctor choice was specific to only one of Boeing's many plans and will not affect any other non-Boeing people with Regence insurance. The decision to reduce the cost of plans by limiting the provider network size was made by Boeing, not Regence.

If Boeing wanted to allow the employees to see any doctor in the world, regardless of cost, Regence could change the plan to meet that criterion.

Employers like Boeing have to make very difficult decisions when deciding how to manage rising medical-insurance premiums. The insurance companies implement the decisions made by the employers. Making Regence out to be the bad guy was wrong.

— Dave G. Maddock, R.H.U. (Registered Health Underwriter), Maddock & Associates, Kent

Overall feeling poor

I was outraged when I received a letter from Regence BlueShield telling me Dr. Gary German was no longer a "quality doctor," along with others in his clinic.

My three children have been patients of Valley Children's clinic for 16 years. You will never find a clinic of more compassionate, caring and efficient doctors, nurses and staff. Regence informed me that I received the letter in error, and the plan still accepted these physicians. How "quality" is that?

Over the years, my dealings with Regence have been less than favorable. I even had to resort to a referral to the state insurance commissioner in order to solve payment of a claim. I can't begin to count the extra time and phone calls I have had to make over the years for coverage of my children's claims.

My rating of Regence: POOR!

— Tracy Gibbs, Renton

A child's nightmare

Lurking over the bed

I am so angered and horrified by the news of the parents who [are charged with killing] their autistic son. Their excuse was that they were trying to end his pain yet they subjected him to one of the most painful types of death any human being could have to endure.

I have Asperger syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism, and so I am disgusted by [people] who would rather kill someone like me than find the help people with autism need to be a part of our society.

While I will never say that caring for an individual with autism is easy or inexpensive, there are many organizations and even influential people who could have helped this family.

I have no sympathy for these merciless killers and I hope the judge will show them no mercy for their crime.

— Leslie Benisz, Vancouver, B.C.

Behind every door

Regarding "Couple charged in autistic son's fire death" [Local News, May 23]: I certainly hope having locks on their doors and windows is not the only reason this couple is under suspicion for killing their son. If you have an autistic child, it is very common to have locks on the windows and doors that can only be opened with a key. Many autistic children are very adept at unlocking doors and just running, otherwise known as "eloping."

Putting locks on doors, windows, refrigerators, closets, cabinets, and just about anything and everything else is necessary to keep the autistic child/adult safe.

Locking a child in his/her room is an extremely difficult decision to make and is done only as a last resort to keep the child safe.

— Adrianne Black, Clifton Heights, Pa.

Parsing sentences

Give terror no leniency

"Ecoterrorism is real" [editorial, May 23] argues that illegal acts of destruction of property in defense of the environment qualify as terrorism because "they are wholly intended to intimidate and demoralize people to change their behavior and change public and political policy." But any form of protest activity is intended to force change. Terrorism is the deliberate use of indiscriminate violence to terrorize people.

If you break the law, you can expect to be punished. Nobody should be above the law.

The problem with the "ecoterrorism" hype is that powerful police, judicial and corporate forces want "ecoterrorists" to be treated the same as or worse than people who deliberately cause bodily harm to humans. Why should people who destroy property be punished more severely than others who do much more malicious crimes?

I also question the intentions of the people who preach "ecoterrorism" hysteria. How many of these people have any concern about the cultural genocide, political corruption and ecological devastation caused by the mega-corporations? Are they only concerned about violence when the target is big business?

— Brenton Gicker, Eugene, Ore.

Hillary's virtue

Made to be vice president

David Broder starts off looking at the two sides of Hillary Clinton ["The elephant in Hillary's room," syndicated column, May 25]. One side is her interest in energy policy, and the other side is ... her sex life?!?

I know it's too much to ask for the Washington press corps to be worried about the fact that the attorney general has threatened to prosecute journalists for publishing stories the Bush administration doesn't like.

But I'm sure I'll enjoy The Washington Post and New York Times articles soon to follow on Rudy Giuliani's and Sen. John McCain's bedroom affairs, right???

— Matthew Cunningham, Seattle