Arvada Press 15
February 15, 2018
LETTERS FROM PAGE 13
innocent people die, that society is doomed to disintegration. We must never forget that. Jim Morgan, Lakewood Support Inclusive Care for Seniors Many seniors on Medicare are facing expensive out-of-pocket cost for treatments they need to remain independent. Strokes, surgeries, and other debilitating conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, post-polio syndrome and trauma from falls or other injuries sometimes result in patients needing prolonged care by physical, occupational or speech therapists. Congress recently failed to act to repeal a harsh limit on these necessary, therapeutic treatments which enable patients to remain in the comfort of their homes, and thus creating uncertainty for providers, patients and their families. This Congressional inaction poses a very real financial and medical threat to seniors already struggling in rehabilitation care. Should Congress not act to remove hard caps, the result is tough choices for a population which spends up to half their retirement income on fixed costs such as housing, utilities, food and medicine. Maybe care could be rationed and less frequent but some may simply not be
able to afford continued therapy or even engage in therapeutic treatment if another injury occurs. This year the annual limits are $2,010 for both physical therapy and speech-language pathology combined; there is a separate $2,010 for occupational therapy. In the face of constantly increasing healthcare costs, this is too little. Please ask your Senators and Representatives to fix this harmful policy so seniors can live with dignity and independence as long as possible and get the care they need without rations. Shirley Leow, Lakewood No on Senate Bill 1 I am an Arvada resident and work as a public school teacher in Adams County. I love my job as a teacher, although every year becomes tougher as resources disappear and class sizes increase. My class sizes have risen up to 38 students in the past couple years and with this increase, it becomes extremely challenging to meet the diverse needs of my students. This frustration continues as the state government tells schools they owe us money and never deliver on this promise. At this point, we have had $828 million cut and there are no indications that this will change any time soon, especially with the introduction of Senate Bill 1. Although Senate Bill 1 sounds good, (it’s about funding road projects) the amount of money that goes into the bill continues to take away money from schools.
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I would like to see our state representatives and senators work toward a solution that both funds our roads and our education system. I strongly oppose Senate Bill 1. Kathryn Zaleski, Arvada We need to work on abortion All laws aim at modifying behavior, intentionally reflecting society’s agreed-upon moral tenants. The writer’s false premise then implies a false dichotomy that there are little or no other options for addressing escalated abortion rates in a diverse society. There are usually more options. Remember the original “Choice” argument included educating and empowering our young people to respect their minds and bodies (via Planned Parenthood, etc.), thereby reducing unwanted pregnancies? The before/after abortion spike (60 million over 45 years) screams out that this promise has failed — by any rubric. Time to regroup and re-evaluate underlying problems and create policies that actually strengthen our
young people while serving a diverse population. We have yet to accept the science that would define the life we value in the constitution. Regardless, we can still evolve away from Daddy Government as “fixer” to preventative laws that deter unwanted pregnancies, i.e., eliminate taxpayer funded abortions (just as we don’t fund actual constitutional rights, like handguns, speaking tours, etc.), eliminate late term abortions. Choice could go to states and localities while re-engaging families, vast community networks, and self-responsibility like days past. Today, many of these resources are already much improved and certainly stigmas are removed. We’re poised as never before to reduce abortion rates. No solution will be perfect. But to think we’ve evolved this issue as far as it can go is ridiculous. To rest our laurels on beta policies that have overwhelmingly failed is just another failure, moral or otherwise. Michelle Montgomery Arvada