Letters to the editor for Sunday, July 23, 2017

Good things will always grow

On July 20, 2005, Shelly Churchey Hachenberger lost her life to domestic violence in Carson City.

She left behind her two daughters, Claire, 10 years old, and Natalie, 7 years old.

The kindness and concern shown by so many from Carson City and all of Northern Nevada at the time helped our families in more ways than can ever be put into words. The results of those acts are the most important benefits, and teach us that no kind act is ever wasted.

The contributions made toward the girls’ future are coming to fruition.

Claire, now 22, graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, this year and is pursuing her career in the arts.

Natalie, now 19, is starting her second year at Johnson & Wales in Rhode Island studying ecotourism so she can help both the environment and others enjoy it properly.

From all the horror, the loss, and the pain has come a great sense of pride in what we as good humans can do every day by just being kind toward others.

Good things will always grow, even in bad times.

We, the Churchey and Hachenberger families, wish to say thank you for all the kindness we have been shown, and may you take as much pride in the results as we do.

Dave Churchey

Carson City

How to make meaningful healthcare reform

I couldn’t stand it any longer. My turn to weigh in on the whole healthcare issue.

My credentials: 42 years as a registered nurse working in numerous areas of healthcare, including working for several insurance companies at the end of my career.

First off, I have to say that I generally support the ACA (Obamacare) as a first-step effort. But it needs a lot of work. The goal should ultimately be national healthcare, just like the rest of the first world countries.

The problem right now is that Congress and the White House don’t have the courage to honestly deal with the problems. They keep working on the wrong end of the horse.

You can shovel, shape, move, and even fumigate manure, but it’s still manure. If they want to really make a difference, then they need to be honest about the problems and work at the end where the problems start.

Pharmaceutical companies, durable medical equipment companies, and hospitals (especially not-for-profit hospitals) have outrageous profit margins. Insurance companies are actually way behind the rest of the industry in this regard.

Best step at this point: Pass a law limiting all segments of the industry to a reasonable profit margin!

Everyone should read Steven Brill’s Time Magazine article, “The Bitter Pill,” from March 4, 2013, and his book, “America’s Bitter Pill: Politics, Backroom Deals, and the Fight to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System.”

Donna N. Inversin

Carson City

Thoughts on Nevada land ownership

In the Nevada Appeal article on June 28 on Payments In Lieu of Taxes money coming back to the state, Geoff Dornan writes, “In Nevada 85 percent of the land is federally owned and, therefore, non-taxable.”

Question: When did the land become federally owned rather than state owned/federally managed?

Jan Martinez

Dayton

Uninsured rural Nevadans facing crisis of health

It is ironic that the Sandoval administration has declared a state of emergency regarding the distribution of recreational marijuana while it remains silent about the fact that there are no insurance carriers willing to write ACA (Obamacare) coverage in rural Nevada, thus leaving approximately 8,000 Nevadans with no viable medical insurance. The lack of medical insurance is the real emergency.

In late June it was announced by all of the carriers that had previously written ACA coverage in rural Nevada that they were not going to participate in the ACA exchange in 2018. Nearly a month later, no news is available about what is being done to address this health crisis.

What is going on with the priorities in our governor’s office? Though marijuana distribution issues may inconvenience those wishing to recreationally intoxicate themselves, it is far from an emergency.

On the other hand, leaving 8,000 rural Nevadans effectively without medical insurance is an emergency of staggering proportions. Given the silence from the governor’s office and the Nevada Division of Insurance, one wonders whether they are doing anything to resolve this true emergency. If they are actively seeking coverage alternatives, the governor’s office and/or the Division of Insurance should be issuing regular weekly progress reports on its efforts to secure medical insurance for those of us who live in rural Nevada.

It is a sad state of affairs when the availability of recreational marijuana takes priority as an “emergency” over the availability of medical insurance for rural Nevadans.

Frederick T. Kearney

Dayton