Editor, Daily Nexus,

Courtney Stevens’ column (“Healthcare for All Isn’t Exactly Equal,” Daily Nexus, Feb. 13) demands a response. As a British citizen and a former resident of Canada, I am quite familiar with universal healthcare and I disagree pointedly with her on several points.

One of her main points is in regards to taxes. Obviously, Courtney has not paid her health insurance bill lately or broken an arm, but maybe if she decides she needs a facelift one day, she’ll realize how many thousands of dollars disappear from her bank account every time she leaves the doctor’s office. Imagine if the only charge you paid when attending a doctor was for the medicine you used. By comparison, a hike in taxes hardly seems as expensive. I am amused by the fact that she calls the left “fiscally irresponsible” when this right-led ‘war on terror’ is estimated to cost $690 billion by the end of next year.

Courtney thinks that illegal immigration could be increased by free healthcare and that illegal immigrants do not pay taxes. I ask, then, why don’t we have illegal emigrants rushing into Canada? Immigration isn’t because of a single factor. Customs has become progressively harder to get through, and the harder it is to get into the country legally, the more immigrants will come here illegally. If we made it easier to come into the country, not only would there be fewer illegals, but there would be more legal citizens who would pay taxes for things like universal healthcare.

Finally, Courtney makes a point of saying people would use healthcare too frequently. I’m sure you might think it’s better to ignore that lump, hoping it’s just a wart, but I’d rather see a doctor just in case. Along these lines, she infers that risky behavior will result from the ability to see doctors for free. Can no one else see the lunacy in this allegation? If this were the case, hospitals would be filled with billionaires who cut off their own appendages just because they could afford to have them reattached.