Dear Editor:

Most of us received LincolnHealth’s “Community Connection” in the mail lately. Some items in this lavishly printed report to the community of LincolnHealth’s raison d'être piqued my curiosity. Of particular interest is the line in the Financials on page 26 of the report captioned: “Care Provided for Those Who Won’t Pay.” The amount on this line is $5.4 million dollars.

What makes this line so curious is the use of the word “won’t.” Won’t, a contraction of will not, and will being a determined choice as opposed to can’t. A child might petulantly sit and pout at the table “I won’t eat my broccoli” where the equally stubborn parent responds “Yes you will.”

Contrast this with one who cannot pay because they are one of the many who are driven into bankruptcy by ruinously expensive medical costs. Will or won’t is a choice, can or can’t is a capability or lack thereof.

But what makes me curious is why there are those who won’t pay.

Could it be that there is a groundswell of people who are fed up with the exorbitant, and obtuse medical bills that seem to have little relation to any economic reality; charging to their windows to yell into the darkness “I’m madder than hell and I’m not going to take it anymore?”

Are these people weary of having to shoulder the burdens of discounts negotiated by insurance companies or given to Medicare and Medicaid, because these uncovered individuals do not have the same bargaining leverage?

And what about the CEOs of these formerly local and supposedly non-profit medical facilities with their million dollar paydays? Are “Those Who Won’t Pay” throwing the King’s tea into the harbor rather than see their hard earned money go to pay an economic elite?

If not, maybe it is about time that we stood up and demand of our legislature that they bring an end to this system of economic triage that is forcing far too many into poverty if not the grave.

Fred W. Nehring

Boothbay