Letters on health compact, upgrading phones, ovarian cancer
Health compact is cause for caution
Thank you, Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, for explaining why you favor Democrat Dennis Anderson as your replacement, which in part is because he opposes the health care compact that legislators passed and Gov. Sam Brownback signed this year (Sept. 17 Eagle).
The compact, if approved by Congress, would have Kansas join with other similar-thinking states and detach itself from the Affordable Care Act. If that occurs, it would also give our legislators the power to intervene in Medicare, a program in which almost 450,000 senior Kansans now participate. Medicare would be a state program and possibly not have the coverage it now has countrywide.
As a result, it is essential that we be very thoughtful and cautious about whom we vote for as our Kansas governor and to represent us in the Legislature. Will our state elected representatives understand Kansas seniors’ health care delivery needs through Medicare? Would we receive the level of medical care coverage we now receive while in Kansas or while visiting in another state?
DORIS WELLER
Wichita
Upgrade will cost
To everyone with a “shared” family package on your cellphones (say, $160 month for four lines): Pay close attention next time you “need” or want the latest new phone.
“You are due for an upgrade,” they will tell you. “The 5C is only 99 cents, or the wonderful new 6 is only $199.”
What they will not elaborate on, but you had better ask about, is that the line being upgraded may no longer be $40 per month. It may now be an extra $27 for the next 24 months, or $648 added to the $199 down, and you are now at $847, without counting insurance, screen protectors, etc.
The new phones may be cool to have, but this is a large amount of money to spend in a 20-minute trip to the phone store.
Don’t be fooled by “free” or 99-cent offers. If anything sounds too good to be true, it is.
DAN GENTRY
Andover
A silent killer
September is National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Ovarian cancer affects more than 22,000 women each year in the United States. More than 15,000 will die.
There is no screening test, and it is not detected by a pap smear. The five-year survival rate is 44 percent. It affects 1 in 72 women.
Some of the most common symptoms are bloating that is persistent, eating less and feeling fuller, abdominal or pelvic pain, and trouble with your bladder – urinating urgently or frequently. Visit http://www.cancer.gov to learn more.
In October 2013, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. My disease was caught at an early stage. After surgery and chemotherapy, I am dancing with “NED” (no evidence of disease).
I want other women to know what the symptoms are so they have the opportunity to live a full life.
DOREEN HARTZLER
Wichita
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This story was originally published September 24, 2014 at 7:07 PM with the headline "Letters on health compact, upgrading phones, ovarian cancer."