Truro: A Role Model
To the editor:
I was sorry to read that employees of the town of Truro have been facing harassment and intimidation [“Truro Stops Enforcing Bylaw on Temporary Signs,” May 30, front page]. I’m not surprised, because this is an era of bullying.
Trump and the sad but well-funded remains of the Republican Party know they can’t get the votes they need, so they lie, obstruct, and intimidate election workers. Mitt Romney said that even Republican representatives had told him they were afraid for their families if they voted to impeach Trump.
But things are changing, and Truro has made itself a beautiful example of that change. Faced with what looked like an attempt to bully, the town stepped up, put in enormous volunteer effort, and thanks to that effort, the skill of the moderator, and the will of the townspeople, their two-day town meeting hammered out major issues with thoughtful goodwill.
Town Manager Tangeman cited concern for his staff when he stopped enforcing the sign law. It’s very hard to stand up against people who insult and threaten. Anyone who feels the town has done wrong must speak calmly and not anonymously. That’s why the whole community needs to stand with the staff. Remember that intimidators are always in the wrong, that we have a Constitution that sets out the rule of law, and that we are all responsible to abide by it.
Serious effort is needed from all of us to shut the bullying down nationwide. Even the justice system is at risk. But the judge and jury who heard Trump’s election interference case did so despite threats and harassment. The victim of his sexual assault stood up despite threats and harassment. Standing up for the law is becoming a trend, and Truro seems to be a role model for courageous democracy.
Heidi Jon Schmidt
Provincetown
A Theater Support System
To the editor:
In the past two years, the Nauset Regional High School theater department has adapted to the loss of our physical theater (because of the current renovation) by performing in community theaters. Each of them has provided us with a unique and valuable experience, but one stands out, not only for the beauty of the space but for the kindness of the professionals we were given the chance to work with.
This spring, we brought our musical, Pippin, to the Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater. We have staged four of our five performances at WHAT since the fall. Every day we spent at the theater we were met with gracious hospitality and the perfect balance between aid and the chance to grow and learn as a group and as individuals. Sincere thanks to Christopher Ostrom, Katie Graves, Paige O’Connor, and the entire WHAT staff.
While a high school theater group without a theater to perform in is still capable of creating art, the same group without a support system can do very little. From our time at WHAT, we have gained not only the space to display our work but also a community of supporters that has been invaluable for the development of our productions and our troupe.
Niev Witnauer
Wellfleet
The writer, a junior at Nauset Regional High School, is president of the Nauset Players.
Medicare for All and the AMA
To the editor:
This letter is to endorse and expand on Bonnie Shepard’s opinion piece, “The Shameful Disregard of Medicare for All” [May 30, page A3].
A single-payer health insurance program would considerably reduce administrative costs, which would lead to substantial savings. Two professors of public health have estimated that $503 billion administrative dollars could be saved annually and used for patient care. But reaching this goal would require the federal government to circumvent the American Medical Association.
Medicare currently outsources the management of billing and payment methods to the AMA, which owns the CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) coding system every health-care provider must use to receive insurance payments. In addition, the AMA’s Relative Value Scale Update Committee determines an appropriate value for every CPT code.
With a 2023 lobbying budget of more than $20 million, the AMA annually earns more than $290 million in royalties and credentialing products, which include all the CPT products the AMA licenses and sells.
Senate bill S.1655 — the Medicare for All Act in the 118th Congress (2023-2024) — specifies that the secretary of health and human services “shall establish … a standardized process for reviewing the relative values of physicians’ services.” But the Senate bill does not establish a coding method for health-care providers to bill Medicare.
Whether the secretary will use any of the AMA’s existing structure when setting up a coding system for billing or a method to value provider services under Medicare for All is unknown. To stay in the game, however, the AMA will probably need to reconsider its 75-year vocal opposition to single-payer health insurance.
Ronald A. Gabel, M.D.
Yarmouth Port
The writer served on the AMA’s CPT Editorial Panel from 2010 to 2013.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of Dr. Gabel’s letter, published in print on June 6, incorrectly referred to the authors of a paper on single-payer health insurance savings as affiliates of the Harvard School of Public Health. They had left Harvard and were at the City University of New York when that paper was published.
They Can, but They May Not
To the editor:
Re the “Go Slow” sign on Commercial Street in A. Crock’s May 30 cartoon:
We don’t need AI to tell us that both the motorized and unmotorized “can” travel both ways. I believe the town intended that only pedestrians and pedal bikes may travel both ways — and should have said so.
R.S. Steinberg (Usage Scold)
Provincetown
*****
Letters to the Editor
The Provincetown Independent welcomes letters from readers on all subjects. They must be signed with the writer’s name, home address, and telephone number (for verification). Letters will be published only if they have been sent exclusively to the Independent. They should be no more than 300 words and may be edited for clarity, accuracy, conciseness, and good taste. Longer pieces (up to 600 words) may be submitted for consideration as op-ed commentary. Send letters to [email protected] or by mail to P.O. Box 1034, Provincetown, MA 02657. The deadline for letters is Monday at noon for each week’s edition.
