Still time to get health insurance
In the United States, we do not yet have universal health insurance. 44 million Americans lack health insurance and 43.5 million are underinsured. This number has grown steadily since Trump became president because he and his supporters have tried to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Why?
They don’t believe in government-run health insurance. They think corporations, who charge much more than governments, should be able to make a big profit on health insurance. Those corporate profits make the insurance unaffordable to one- third the population of this country.
Trump also does not believe in preparing for a pandemic. Obama, along with getting health insurance to people with pre-existing conditions, also had a pandemic preparedness team of experts in place and shared all the details with Trump. Trump got rid of the team. In early February he sent 17 tons of emergency medical supplies to China because he believed COVID-19 would not touch the U.S. As a result, we lack the masks, protective gowns and respirators we need here.
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Luckily for Coloradans, Gov. Jared Polis is working hard to get us what we need. He has also extended the period to get health insurance through Connect For Health Colorado. You can enroll now through April 30. https://connectforhealthco.com.
Illene Pevec
Carbondale
Voters should be better informed before voting on Operations Center
Regarding the ballot measure allowing the city to “sell or otherwise convey” the Maintenance and Operations Center property and access road I have to say no. I have to say no because of my lack of information regarding the situation. All I know is what has been published in the Post Independent. Yes, I know the building is a fiasco but what recourse and accountability has been pursued to rectify the situation? Has the original designer and contractor fulfilled their contractual responsibilities? Has the unsuccessful remediation designer fulfilled their responsibilities? Shouldn’t we be a bit more informed before being asked to vote on such a large financial decision? I, for one, feel like a large series of mistakes (read our tax dollars) are being swept under the rug.
Ray Schmahl,
Glenwood Springs
Stay at home orders are not fake news
To all the sheriff and police chiefs who are enforcing our health professionals mandates — thank you for taking this deadly unpredictable virus seriously and enforcing the stay at home orders.
It is no fun when you can’t breathe, are in excruciating pain, no vaccines or cures, not enough ventilators to keep you breathing, and then you die if your body can’t fight it off. Simple enough.
One way to convince yourself of the deadliness of this coronavirus is to turn on the TV and count the number of caskets lined up and the makeshift hospitals set up in parks all over the country. This is not fake news.
You do not want this disease. It’s our personal responsibility to stay at home, and if needed to go out in public to get groceries once a week or month — to cover your face with a mask or scarf, wash your hands and face, and stay 6 feet apart.
Thank you to everyone for battling the boredom of being at home, which is much better than being bored lying in a hospital bed not being able to breathe.
Stay healthy. Be safe.
Toni Kronberg,
Aspen
Please continue to pay your household workers
During these stressful times, many household workers are no longer being employed. In particular house cleaners are taking a massive pay cut. If you can, please continue to pay your household help even if they aren’t coming to your house.
Jerome Dayton,
Carbondale