The United States government should have no role in health care because its involvement includes national health care plans that will not solve Americans' lack of insurance. Members of the government are looking for a "quick fix" because they feel pressure from the nation. The many plans they are coming up with are temporary solutions for now. Use of these temporary solutions, however, will hurt the nation in the long run. What the leaders need to do is, without pressure, sit down and think up a permanent solution with the entire nation in mind, not just the constituents of their own party.

Part of the problem with the government officials' plans is the cost. The fact is they do not know how they will pay for one. For example, Pennsylvania Senator Wofford promoted national health care simply to get elected because he knew that is what the voters wanted to hear. What people need to know is "free medicine" is not really free. Socialized medicine will cost taxpayers plus the government more than the voters know, and as both sides stand right now, neither can afford it. Government-controlled medicine would increase Social Security taxes on wages to 14 percent or sales tax would increase to 10 percent. Ohio's Governor Voinovich proposed a plan that would damage small businesses without aiding those with no insurance. This same plan means employers would have to pay $250 million more for employes' insurance. To spend so much and not have a working solution is insensible.

A solution to the nationwide health care crisis is attainable without putting the nation even deeper in debt. If government heads would sit down and think the problem completely through, they could probably come up with a solution to satisfy everyone regardless of how much they make or to what party they belong. The proposal for using a plan similar to the Canadians' would cost the United States $339 billion in new taxes. Citizens of the U.S. cannot afford $339 billion in new taxes. The capitalist-minded Jackson Hole Group, led by Dr. Paul M. Elwood, on the other hand, offers alternatives to a national health plan. One idea includes giving tax credits to aid people to purchase insurance. Another idea would be to put a tax on employes' health benefits. These ideas may take a little more time to get going, but in the long run they will correct the health care crisis, unlike socialized medicine which is only a temporary solution.

Under the United States' current capitalistic system citizens can get the care they need, when they need it, and from whom they prefer. If the U.S. converted to socialized medicine like other countries, the quality would suffer. The reports of patients in a socialized system who have to wait to get treated are phenomenal. A brain tumor patient in Ontario must wait over a year for an M.R.I.scan.

Mrs. Quayle reported that under Great Britain's care system a woman must wait six months to two years for a mammogram, and even more stifling is that there are 800,000 patients in Great Britain and 50,000 patients in New Zealand waiting for surgery. By the time an individual may get treated for his problem it could be irreversible.Worse yet, he could die while waiting to be treated. The waiting is not the only problem that will arise out of govt-controlled medicine. The qualify of personalized care will decrease. The United States' care is currently one of the best in the world, due to privacy. "Do we really want to turn over to the government the most personal thing we have, our health care?" asks Dr. Jack Schreiber, a retired Canfield, Ohio physician. Since Canada sends patients to specialists in the U.S., his question is justified. Even Canadian patients, when asked have said that their national plan is good only if you are not sick. In America patients know they will get quality care. The United States' medical research is one of the best; however, cost comes with this quality research and care. Not only does the U.S. give treatment to the Canadians who cannot get treated, Canada also relies on our nation's medical research. Patients in the U.S. may have to pay more than patients in other systems, but if it becomes a choice between quality or cost, chances are people will choose the quality of their care over saving.

Citizens of this capitalist country must learn to understand that the health care crisis will not be corrected overnight and that when the correction is in sight they must also be willing to accept small losses for larger gains. United States' residents are screaming for a solution without full under- standing of the problem. They hear what they want and nothing else. As a result, when people hear socialized medicine, they think "free medicine" because they do not have a complete understanding of what would result from a national plan.

For example, one proposed bill, supported by voters, would not change the number of uninsured individuals. If the proposed solution does not solve the problem, it is not a true solution and the search for one should continue. A problem such as health care should not be half solved.

The health care crisis has become a battle between all the different groups who have something to win or lose by the outcome. The solution should not be based on what a single group has to win in the end. The health care crisis correction should be carefully thought out so it will last, but more importantly, the solution should be focused on the entire nation winning.

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