I am writing in reference to Mr. Daniel W. Smith’s letter to the editor in The Natchez Democrat Wednesday praising the quality health care, which he, an uninsured resident of the Miss-Lou received. His only cost was for gas and medicine. Well, bully for you Mr. Smith.

I am happy, Mr. Smith, that you received top notch care for your medical problems.   However, who do you think paid the bills, which must have been astronomical, which you accrued in the charity hospitals of two states, the Health Care Fairy?

The citizens of the U.S. pay more for medical care than any other country in the world. Very often the under/uninsured put off routine and prophylactic care because of cost. This lets a condition acerbate to where it becomes a real emergency, necessitating prolonged and much more expensive care.

I am not saying this was necessarily true in Mr. Smith’s case. Earlier diagnoses might not have alleviated his condition, nor made it easier to treat.

However, what I am saying Mr. Smith, is that your superlative, absolutely free care, was not free.

Also, it was not paid for by Mr. Smith’s Health Care Fairy. It was paid for by me and all the other tax payers in Mississippi and Louisiana, as well as all federal taxpayers.

Mr. Smith was lucky that all of us who pay taxes were feeling generous when he needed our assistance.

But what of all the others who may not be able to count on us, the Health Care Fairy? About two thirds of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills. Please, Mr. Smith, don’t go bragging about how it cost you only gas and medicines when we bear the cost for you.

Would it not be better if Mr. Smith and all the other uninsured were to have a government sponsored insurance program available to them?

And don’t talk to me about that old boogeyman, socialized medicine. Americans love their Medicare and rightly so, but by definition it is … socialized medicine.

Heida E. Hicks

Natchez resident