As a self-identified Reagan Republican, I believe health care costs can be contained while access is expanded and quality is improved by empowering patients and doctors to make the choices that are best for them. Tort reform could provide massive savings, as the Pacific Research Institute estimates defensive medicine wastes $200 billion each year. Taxing employer health benefits and returning the money to the employees to purchase their own insurance would empower patients to choose plans that meet their needs while simultaneously making their plan of choice completely portable. Additionally, allowing the purchase of health insurance plans across state lines would immediately create a robust market of choices.
Nicholas J. Rohrhoff, Sarasota, Fla.
Ask foster children if system works
As a foster care alumna, I think it is important to think critically about the lives of children in foster care. That is why I must respond to the article "Md. Policy on children 'not working' Conway says," (Sept. 30).
First, I found it glaring that not a single foster youth or foster care alumnus was interviewed for this story. Don't these individuals know best whether group homes are working? When I grew up in foster care, I was given a choice as to whether I would be placed in a group home or foster home. I always chose foster homes. As a child, group homes terrified me, and I thought I would lose my freedom. I wanted a family, not a business, to raise me.
Since adulthood, I have found organizations such as the Foster Care Alumni of America that are founded by and advocate on behalf of foster youth. Many of my friends have come from group homes, and many appreciate the experiences they had. Some even prefer group homes to foster homes.
I have also heard of horror stories in which shoddy group homes were established that did not know how to properly care for children. I can share traumas within my own foster home experiences. During foster care, I moved to eight different families and eventually moved out without ever finding my "forever" home.
My point is not that all group homes are bad and all foster homes are good (although research does support better outcomes for children in healthy foster care placements versus group home placements). Life is too complex for such dichotomies. But shouldn't we be asking the children and former foster youth what they prefer instead of making decisions based on whether it will turn a profit? Should we be concerned that group homes aren't making enough money to sustain themselves or that foster youth have stable families and loving homes? It is unfortunate that foster care can be a money-making enterprise. To the youth in this system, foster care isn't a business, it is their lives.
Melissa N. Smith, Rockville
