Correspondent of the Day

Editor, Times-Dispatch: Whenever one changes a process, a government, or one's clothes, there are two possible outcomes: Things could get better, or things could get worse.

I say this in relation to the proposed changes to the health care system in the U.S. Many favor changing our current system, blaming the incredible, seemingly out-of-control rise in health care costs. I, for one, don't mind the rising cost of health care.

My dad is 66 years old and has two artificial hips. His first was replaced when he was 59. His second was at 64. Prior to each operation, he was limited to walking only from the door to the car while using a cane. He was not far from a wheelchair when he finally underwent the surgeries. Both surgeries were incredible successes and after each, he was in less pain two days after the surgery then he was the day before the surgery.

The surgeries were made possible by a health insurance policy, a hospital willing to take the operation and the risk, and the company that developed the hip. All of these people and groups came together to replace Dad's hips because there was a promise of profit for each involved. Profit has a bad connotation in many circles but here profit motivated many to do a great thing and give my dad his mobility back.

Artificial hips as common medical devices are no more than 30 years old. What was the solution for arthritic, life-limiting hips before then? A wheelchair and a handicapped future.

The cost of both operations totaled over $40,000. The cost of a shiny new wheelchair is $150. Let's keep a health care system that allows Americans to benefit from today's medical breakthroughs instead of a system that hands out wheelchairs. Roger Galbraith. Glen Allen.