Why waste energy?
The beacon lights have been turned on at the World Trade Center, and they are eye catching. But what useful purpose do they serve?
Americans are the most wasteful people in the world today, and probably the most wasteful ever.
During the oil embargo, people conserved energy. But when supplies became available again they went right back to their old habits of overheating, over-cooling, burning lights unnecessarily and driving too often.
One must remember that every ton of coal that is burned is gone forever, and that every barrel of oil burned is gone forever. And both contribute to the deterioration of our already fragile atmosphere.
This wasteful behavior is directly responsible for both the high cost of energy and for future shortages that will deny our children and our grandchildren access to affordable energy.
The world would be a much safer place to live in if we all conserved. The planet that sustains us would be better for it.
Albert Antonelli
Baltimore
Bigshot politicians
Here we are in a new political year, new leadership across our nation -- and already the same old threats from those we chose to lead us.
Why is it every time our country falls short of money our leaders think of reducing Social Security?
How sad it is when our "leaders" try to take away from the American middle class what they have worked for all their lives.
Our leaders, with their high salaries and even higher pensions, never pay a cent into Social Security. Their $100,000 to $200,000 pensions come directly from our pockets.
And they want to take away some of the $800 a month I will be getting this spring when I retire.
I have worked 60 to 70 hours a week for 46 years. I've put over $300,000 into the Social Security system, and I am depending on my $800 monthly pension. This is my money!
It is not charity. I would gladly settle for one check for all I've put into Social Security -- without interest. I could live as high on the hog as those who make the decisions.
Those running our Social Security system pay no Social Security taxes either. Yet they decide who needs and gets Social Security disability benefits.
In most cases it takes a lawyer and three years of appeals for one to be approved for this benefit.
It is time our political leaders remember it is our money that pays their salaries -- and that more of our money should be used on us, the people of this country.
Those who run our country get all the pay and benefits and those who pay all the taxes get all the bills -- and all the cuts in everything.
Let's hope 1995 will see many changes for the betterment of all our people.
. A. Greenwood
Homestead
Rhino bullets
I was stunned that you printed Vincent DeMarco's views on the "Rhino Bullet" (Perspective, Jan. 1).
Mr. DeMarco writes, "So, besides banning Rhino, we must treat ammunition like prescription drugs and require prior approval of any new bullet before it can be manufactured or sold."
Consider another of Mr. DeMarco's statements: "Most importantly, anyone who wants to obtain a handgun or handgun ammunition should have to get a license from the state police."
Does Mr. DeMarco honestly believe that "prescription drugs" aren't used illegally by criminals? Does Mr. DeMarco distrust his neighbors so much that he would have America become a police state?
If you ask me, Mr. DeMarco's vision for a safer America closely parallels Adolf Hitler's vision for a Nazi Germany . . .
Thomas E. Maloney
Baltimore
Real fraud?
In response to Bruce Marcus' complaint about Ellen Sauerbrey's challenge of the recent election fraud, maybe he should try to understand what has occurred.
The "technical" issues referred to are all part of the fraud charge, or is he saying "technical fraud" is OK?
He's upset about an 11th hour challenge. So what? At least she followed legal guidelines, which apparently someone did not do during the election: Even Mr. Marcus admits that.
Maybe he wants us to believe a "little" fraud is OK and only natural. How much fraud is OK before he says, "Wow, this is real fraud"? If Ms. Sauerbrey had been a clear winner, would that have been "real fraud"?
Mr. Marcus should stop telling everyone how citizens feel about fraud. Contrary to his belief, we are not all "divisive" and "dispirited" about the fraud that has been forced upon the voters.
Try asking honest voters in this state (which is the majority of us), and we will tell you that we stand four square behind the law. (As an attorney, he should too.)
I am really tired of lawyers, politicians, the news media and their designated spokespersons telling us how we feel about fraud, corruption and other crimes.
And please don't make a joke out of this situation either, by saying "she should have brought it to the attention of law enforcement." We know that's controlled by a Democratic State House and attorney general.
If you think there isn't any credibility in that statement, look what the Democrats (governor, legislators, etc.) have done to the state prosecutor's office.
Kenneth M. Stockwell
Bel Air
Monumental waste
I find it appropriate that the monumental city was chosen for the lighting of the state-owned World Trade Center. This is a fitting monument to government waste of tax dollars.
The hundreds of thousands of dollars to install the lighting and the thousands-of-dollars monthly electric bill is just another example of government waste.
Oh well, not to worry: The state and city can always get more federal funds.
I have seen the light.
J. Smith
Essex
The hidden costs of managed care
As an employee in the office of a physician who is contracted with local health maintenance organizations or managed care plans, I am finally understanding the true costs of care to the patient.
A patient who chooses HMO coverage often has a lower premium than patients enrolled in other plans.
But one pays a price for choosing the lower premium of the HMO plan. Managed care companies are cutting costs even at the expense of good medical care to their subscribers.
One aspect of managed care that patients seldom hear about is the "payback incentive" to primary care physicians (PCPs).
It works like this: The HMO keeps a record of each PCP's yearly activity. It tracks how many specialist referrals, X-rays, surgeries, etc., each PCP office produces.
At the end of the year, the HMO calculates which PCP offices gave out the least -- and thus saved the HMO the most money. The managed care company gives these PCP doctors a "payback incentive" to encourage them to "keep up the good work.
Thus it sometimes seems PCP offices actually refrain from referring patients for other services. I wonder if it is directly related to this payback incentive.
For example, I know of a pregnant woman with HMO coverage who never had a routine streptococcus test performed in her last trimester of pregnancy.
This test is routine for pregnant women to ensure the birth canal is free of bacteria. But because the testing was never done, the bacteria was not detected, and the child was infected.
I feel this HMO was trying to save money by not routinely performing the test. Now it is paying for 10 additional hospital days for the infant in intensive care.
That on top of the stress and grief to the newborn's parents that could have easily been avoided for about $2.50.
Another cost-cutting measure HMOs are taking is contracting out all radiology work. The contractors save the companies money because they are paid a flat fee to perform all radiology services for the HMO's members.
Unfortunately, patients rarely understand this may mean trekking all over Maryland to get proper radiology care.
If a patient needs an X-ray procedure that is not routine, he or she has to travel to the nearest site that has the necessary equipment, regardless of distance. In some cases, the nearest site can be up to 50 minutes away.
This may seem to be cost effective to the HMO, but it is not necessarily cost effective for the customer, and it is very time consuming.
These are only a couple of examples of how HMOs are cutting costs to save money.
It is important to voice our concerns to the primary care physicians and to the medical directors of local managed care companies.
We do not have to settle for poor health care because the HMOs are competing to see which can survive best financially.
Jennifer Hall
Baltimore