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Letters to the editor

Good health should be personal

I was thrilled to read Richard Seven's piece "Shape Up or Pay Up," about the King County program to inspire employees to take charge of their health (Oct. 15). The aim of this program is to enable employees to become stakeholders in their own health.

As a public health practitioner-in-training, I am fascinated with King County's approach to improving and maintaining employee health, while at the same time attempting to cut health-care costs. The program motivates participation by reducing employee out-of-pocket health-care expenses.

One idea that resonated with me is the mantra of this program: "personal responsibility with a hugging 'we're-all-in-this-together' culture." Collectively, we all need to invest in our individual health and cultivate situations that support us. King County's program enables people to do just that.

The United States needs a paradigm shift in approaching health and the responsibility that we place on each tier of society. Politicians, health-policy makers, insurance companies, employers and consumers of health care all need to take on the role of stakeholders in our public's health. Without this collective effort, we are doomed.

I applaud King County and Ron Sims for the innovative and active approach to improving the health of its employees.

— Marissa Brooks, Seattle

Employee benefits are no gift

I am appalled. Richard Seven, in his article, "Shape Up or Pay Up" (Oct. 15), states, "Employee-based benefits . . . are a gift, not a right." Employee-based benefits, Mr. Seven, are part of an employee's compensation package. There is nothing free about them. Believe me, sir, the number of employers who would bestow such a gift upon any employee is somewhere close to the number of needles in your local haystack.

The sad truth of the matter is that Mr. Seven, like most Americans, appears not to have been educated as to the history of employee/labor relations in this country. Previous generations fought, and sometimes died, to improve the lot of workers in this country. Unfortunately, lo these three generations later, we now have people who think their employers give them "gifts."

Mr. Seven, they have you right where they want you.

— Cathy Baylor, Lynnwood

Send letters to the editor to Pacific Northwest magazine, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111, or e-mail pacificnw@seattletimes.com. Include a telephone number for verification.