A school bus suggestion, air medical providers, and more: letters to the editor

‘Drivers do not heed school bus laws’

Recent news of an 11-year-old and her twin 6-year-old brothers tragically killed crossing the street to catch their school bus: it’s a well-known fact that even with strict laws in place, drivers do not heed school bus laws. An article in your paper discussed this. So, why not eliminate any school bus stops requiring children crossing streets? While that may not be economically sound, keeping our children safe should most certainly be the primary goal. - Beverly Morgan, Whiting, NJ

‘Hatred is speaking’

We are hastening toward the precipice of division, hatred, dehumanization and violence. In the past week alone, we’ve seen the ugly heart of hatred coursing into sanctuaries, homes, and the daily routines of innocents. We’ve witnessed politically motivated mail-bombs, the cold-blooded murder of black grocery store patrons ... and the mass shooting of Jews engaged in the sanctity of religious rite.

Hatred is speaking, and it’s message is stark: There is nothing, no one, and no place sacred. Let’s be clear: The rhetoric of violence and loathing currently shapes our civic discourse and how we see the world. The President of the United States shapes nearly every policy discussion in the language of division and dehumanization.

He speaks in the paranoid language of enemies. The press is his enemy. His political opponents are the enemy. Asylum-seekers are the enemy. Anyone, in fact, who dares to question him, critique him or hold him to any standard of decency is the enemy. This narrative, daily reinforced, emboldens those who know only the language of hatred.

This is coming from the top, and that should matter. Whatever our political differences, we presently have one overarching question: Are we contributing to the toxic sentiment of escalating hatred that leads to violence? What are we doing to pull us back from the precipice? Do we believe in unity and American values? If so, the President of the United States must be held to that standard. Everything this republic stands for is at stake. - James Hynes, State College, PA

‘Pass this legislation’

Access to health care in rural areas is shrinking, with more than 22 percent of America’s hospitals having closed since 1990. Given that rural hospitals are closing at a rate of nearly one per month since 2010, that access will continue to disappear.

This leaves people stranded without health care, which is a burden on the patient’s day-to-day health and can be life-threatening in an emergency when access to proper emergency medical facilities simply does not exist. Air medical services fill this gap, transporting patients in emergencies quickly to the medical facility, and do so much quicker than ground transportation.

But the air medical industry is in peril because the majority of emergency air medical providers are reimbursed far below the cost of their services on 70 percent of transports for patients with Medicare, Medicaid, or no insurance. As a result, a small portion of the transports must support the entire system, resulting in an unavoidable cost-shifting environment that puts patients in the middle.

Thankfully, Congress is considering H.R. 3378/S. 2121, the Ensuring Access to Air Ambulance Services Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation that would modernize Medicare reimbursement rates. We call on our elected officials to pass this legislation and protect access to these critical services. - Carter Johnson, Washington, DC