Letters

(3 of 4)

Provena Health Responds

WE WOULD LIKE TO RESPOND TO YOUR report "Sick of Hospital Bills" [Sept. 27], about class actions against hundreds of nonprofit hospitals. The reference to Joseph and Laverne Dumas' suit against Provena Mercy Center in Aurora, Ill., included information that Provena disputes. Laverne Dumas claims that the hospital refused her offer to negotiate a payment plan. Provena maintains that its records show it offered a payment plan on two occasions that was refused. Additionally, the hospital maintains that its records show that Laverne Dumas, while a patient, was given a financial-assistance form and instructions on how to complete it. If the Dumases were to apply for financial assistance today, their claim would still be considered. Also, you reported that the state of Illinois revoked a tax exemption for one of our hospitals. The state's decision was restricted to property taxes, and that issue is under appeal. Our hospitals treat everyone who comes to us, regardless of ability to pay and this includes the Dumases. We provide millions of dollars in free or heavily discounted care to the uninsured every year.
THOMAS H. HANSEN
SYSTEM VICE PRESIDENT
STRATEGIC PLANNING AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
PROVENA HEALTH
Mokena, Ill.

Big and Fuel-Efficient

MICHAEL ELLIOTT'S WELCOME FEATURE on our report Winning the Oil Endgame [Sept. 27] had a headline, "Kicking the Big-Car Habit," that did not correctly reflect the thesis of the team at Rocky Mountain Institute. We support Americans' right to drive any type of vehicle they want, but we suggest they be offered safer and more fuel-efficient choices. Ultralight but ultrastrong materials now remove the contradiction between big and efficient: cars can be big but also light and safe, saving oil and lives without compromising comfort or pep. For example, a midsize SUV made of carbon fiber could cut fuel use 72%, and the vehicle's extra cost could be repaid from fuel savings in about three years. Our proposals would expand car buyers' range and freedom of choice and increase automakers' profits and competitive strength.
AMORY B. LOVINS, CEO
ROCKY MOUNTAIN INSTITUTE
Old Snowmass, Colo.

YEARS AGO, CONSUMERS WERE WARNED that small cars were unsafe. I got a bigger car. Now I'm supposed to give up the safety of my SUV for the better mileage of a lighter car? No way. My wife and I worked long and hard to be able to afford a larger, safer car and we're not about to give it up!
DOUGLAS LENT
Citrus Heights, Calif

The New U.S. Ally

YOUR ITEM ABOUT HOW SYRIA AND THE U.S. are holding talks to try to keep insurgents from crossing Syria's border into Iraq was both informative and amusing [Sept. 27]. President Bush famously said, "You are either with us or against us" in the war on terrorism, but by cooperating with Syria, a well-known harborer of terrorists and a suspected developer of weapons of mass destruction, Bush seems to have changed his mind. Sounds like a flip-flop to me.
WILLIAM PASS
Kansas City, Kans.