There is a human toll

in state budget cuts

In recent months, politicians of both major parties have been vehement in their opposition to "rationing" of health care. Sadly, in the field of mental health, we always have had to ration services because of limited capacity in our state-funded programs. That situation just got worse.

The governor has announced new restrictions in response to revenue shortfall. I do not fault this administration for the hard choices that have to be made, but I do think people should understand the impact of these choices.

If you are a parent with a young adult child showing early signs of a major mental illness such as schizophrenia, you will not be able to get services or treatment. This is in spite of the fact that research shows that early intervention can have a significant impact on outcomes and recovery.

If you had your work hours cut and lost health insurance and are battling major depression, you now are not eligible for state-funded help. And, if like many of the people served by my agency, you are homeless and so seriously ill that you have not sought help but have lived on the margins untreated and alone, you are not eligible either.

The human toll of this situation is clearly disastrous for the individuals involved. The cost to our institutions adds up, too. People who have serious untreated mental illness do not disappear if they cannot get treatment. They end up in hospitals or prisons or lose their jobs, and then picking up the pieces becomes much more costly.

Francie Broderick — St. Louis

Places for People

Cutting access

After reading "Medicaid rates cut; so are 700 jobs" (Oct. 29), I wonder why I bother to reside here. It gets worse every year, especially in mental health.

Medicaid, which covers about 865,000 people, is taking the biggest hit. Gov. Jay Nixon's plan is to save $32 million by cutting services and rates paid to hospitals, doctors, nursing homes and in-home care agencies.

The article says that while he isn't reducing the number of people eligible for Medicaid, he plans to move people toward generic drugs. This can have disastrous results, especially in psychiatry. Stabilizing a person's illness takes time and trials of even brand-name drugs. One size does not fit all. Mandating generic drugs to save money is courting disaster. Medicaid already has left people with no dental care. Now, when treatment is needed a dentist simply pulls the tooth. This is Missouri's answer for our poor and disabled people.

Mr. Nixon's remark that "moving toward the Medicare rate does not cut access" is woefully wrong and a bit naive. One of my doctors stopped taking Medicare patients more than a year ago. If his plan goes through, it will cut access to all sorts of health care for many people.

Bettye Siebels — Des Peres



Opening the door

Colleen Carroll Campbell is right on in what she writes about Pope Benedict's offer to Anglicans distressed to see central Christian teachings and values increasingly abandoned by their co-religionists eager to embrace the spirit of the age ("Attacks on traditional Anglicans prove pope's point," Oct. 29).

The Catholic Church has been saying for decades that the one thing necessary for Christian unity is uniformity of faith. Everything else is negotiable. Up to now this has been just talk. Pope Benedict has made it a reality. His offer is not directed to Anglicans generally, but only to those who, for some years, have declared their acceptance of the whole Catholic faith but fear losing their rich liturgical and spiritual heritage.

It is in no way "poaching" or "sheep stealing." It is rather a response to people who are knocking on our door. Keeping the door shut or telling these people they must go around back never were options. The ball is squarely in the court of traditional Anglicans. Will they be as bold in their response as Pope Benedict was in his offer?

The Rev. John Jay Hughes — University City



On uniting with Rome

Columnist Colleen Carroll Campbell is inspired as Pope Benedict XVI reaches out to disillusioned Anglicans and authorizes "the creation of a new canonical structure that allows these converts to retain some liturgical riches of their Anglican heritage while uniting with Rome" ("Attacks on traditional Anglicans prove pope's point," Oct. 29).

I wonder if this new "Roman Catholic-Light" will be extended to less traditional members of the church who also have differences with various Catholic practices and beliefs.

Ric Stephenson — Edwardsville



No mere parody

Regarding the editorial "Lawsuit obtuse" (Oct. 29): It was surprising to see the Post-Dispatch pan the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's effort to defend its intellectual property and reputation from a group that ripped off the chamber's brand and lied to the press in order to promote its merchandise and movie business.

The Yes Men, the group that perpetrated this fraud, didn't just "punk" the U.S. Chamber, it deliberately scammed serious media outlets such as Reuters, MSNBC, ABC News and others that were duped into reporting a blatant lie and then compelled to retract it.

This was no mere "parody," as the Post-Dispatch asserts. One reason why many experienced journalists were conned was because the Yes Men built a precise replica of the U.S. Chamber's website, including some chamber members' logos and claiming the page was sponsored by them, and embedded sophisticated software design that linked to our site.

This isn't a free speech issue either. A lie is not a free speech issue just because speech is involved. Would the Post-Dispatch sit idly by if someone meticulously recreated the editorial page section of its website and posted an editorial that was completely counter to the actual views of the editorial board? We doubt it.

Steven Law — Washington, D.C.

Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel, U.S. Chamber of Commerce



To the courthouse

The editorial "Lawsuit obtuse" (Oct. 29) was both unfair and rather silly. Neither the U.S. Chamber of Commerce nor any other tort reform-advocating entity that I'm aware of has ever argued for the elimination of all lawsuits, only those that abuse our civil justice system.

Liberal editorial writers may get a kick out of trying to paint the conservative chamber as hypocritical because it brought a lawsuit against a left-wing group that set up a chamber-looking website and purported to be representing the chamber during a phony Washington news conference. But I wonder how amused Post-Dispatch executives and lawyers would be if a similar group of cut-ups and actors pulled similar pranks targeting their company.

Though I could be wrong, I doubt said executives and lawyers would share the editorial writers' apparent embrace of such all-in-good-fun free speech, and that they, too, would hurry to the courthouse with a lawsuit of their own.

Darren McKinney — Washington, D.C.

Director of Communications, American Tort Reform Association



Rome is burning

As the proud parent of a Marine who just completed his third tour in Iraq and who soon will be deployed to Afghanistan, I was sickened at the president's publicity stunt at Dover Air Force Base ("Toll may sway troop verdict," Oct. 30). How dare he use the deaths of these warriors as a photo op?

If he really wanted to honor soldiers, he would have done it while they were alive by sending them the reinforcements the commander on the scene said they need. Instead, he continues to fiddle while "Rome" burns, and more and more of our brave warriors pay the ultimate price. Shame on him.

John Ryan — Eureka