Unaffordable care; Burton on fracking ban; this crazy state; enforce the fines

Unaffordable care

All the ballyhoo about Texas reaching the 1 million health insurance enrollment number is drolly interesting.

After all, the law requires those not getting insurance through work to go out and buy it. More than 6 million Texans didn’t have health insurance before, so the 1 million number still looks rather unimpressive.

A recent article also highlighted the fact that of the 1 million sign-ups, some 87 percent receive subsidies on their premiums.

I lost health insurance through work recently.

My wife and I are too young for Medicare and are ineligible for subsidies. So, we fall into that 13 percent remainder number who must enroll on the health-insurance exchange and pay 100 percent of the premium, which consequently includes the subsidy amounts of those receiving subsidies.

Our annual premium skyrocketed to $11,000 while our deductible nearly tripled to $12,700 — for a very weak plan, I might add.

So, before insurance kicks in even a single nickel within a given year, we will be out nearly $24,000.

We also lost our doctors of over 20 years and the hospital we were accustomed to.

So much for the Affordable Care Act being welcomed or affordable for my family.

— Gary Hancock, Arlington

Burton on fracking ban

Sen. Konni Burton must think the voters in Texas are stupid.

Her explanation for pushing a bill to prohibit fracking bans by saying, “a city cannot infringe on personal property rights,” sounds so anti-government and righteous, she almost had me fooled.

It does precisely the opposite. Can no one see this?

The City of Denton did it the right way by allowing voters to decide when enough was enough.

In the eyes of the oil and gas industry, this outrageous behavior by Denton voters must never be allowed to happen again. Burton believes that a government entity should not be allowed to tell you what you can and can’t do with your property.

Only the oil and gas industry can. Prohibiting future fracking bans is so much easier than having to fight them in court. Less litigation and less cost for the energy giants. It is far better for the state to pass laws in their favor.

Burton’s comments may appease the mindless voter. I find them to be a huge double standard. It did not take long for her to show her true colors and obligations to the West Texas benefactor who very generously supported her election campaign.

— Priscilla Keifer, Grapevine

This crazy state

I was amused at the response of Texans concerning the remarks by Florida Congressman Alcee Hastings that Texas was a “crazy” state.

I will agree with the congressman on two issues: politics and guns.

In politics, I can’t understand how people can live off laws like Social Security, Medicare, minimum wage, 40-hour work week and overtime pay, and vote for Republicans. Crazy.

As to guns, I am in my latter years, and I owned guns and hunted in my younger years. This idea of open carry worries me.

I don’t want to walk into a place of business and see a bunch of people carrying rifles and shotguns.

How can you tell the good guys from the bad ones? And why are they carrying them anyway? Crazy.

— Jack Vaughan, Arlington

Enforce the fines

Instead of debating the placement of red-light cameras, the Arlington City Council should be working to enforce the law and make those who have received the tickets pay their fines.

The few people who are complaining about the cameras and the tickets they have received are usually the same ones who seem to believe that a yellow light means, “put it to the floor!”

Just the other day, I had to slam on the brakes when someone ran a red light at an intersection (no camera, of course) and almost plowed into my vehicle.

Those drivers who believe it is an imposition to refrain from texting, talking on the phone, running red lights and other “trivial” diversions while driving are a menace to the rest of us on the roads.

Let’s keep the few red-light cameras we have in Arlington and add more at other busy intersections. If you don’t want a ticket, try obeying the law!

— David Fusco, Arlington

This story was originally published February 20, 2015 at 7:08 PM with the headline "Unaffordable care; Burton on fracking ban; this crazy state; enforce the fines."