The health reform bill is flawed but should be passed anyway, according to an editorial published in the Boston Globe on Monday.¹ The Globe's editorial board admits that the bill contains no mechanism to control costs, and that nobody is sure what the effect will be on Medicare or providers. But the writers are sure of one thing: it will be historic.

Historic? How about a historic mistake.

In response, I sent a very brief letter to the editor on Monday, December 21st, paraphrashing the old proverb "Today is the tomorrow that we worried about yesterday."

To the Editor:

How irresponsible of you to urge Senators voting on this health reform bill to "pass it now and fix it later." Today is the "later" that is supposed to fix the last round of government-created problems. Don't encourage our legislators to keep up the cycle of band-aid fixes and unintended consequences.

JARED M. RHOADS
Boston, Massachusetts

As with the LTEs that I occasionally send to other left-leaning publications such as the New York Times, I am confident that this letter will not be published. However, one sometimes reaches a sympathetic associate editor, and the experience can be cathartic nevertheless.

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¹ "Health bill is a step forward, so pass it now and fix it later" Boston Globe, December 22 2009

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