Catastrophic

Thank you for your accurate and informative article by Gary Libman entitled "High Cost of Victory" on April 25. Cancer is definitely the greatest challenge I have met since my original diagnosis in 1982 at the age of 27. I enjoy full remission now, but have been heavily penalized for using my health insurance. My premiums are prohibitive. In the article Libman made reference to SB-6, which was introduced this year by Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys). SB-6 would provide catastrophic health benefits for Californians.

DARRINGTON, Wash. - Before the catastrophic landslide killed at least 24 people and severed the main highway out of town, it took about 30 minutes to drive from this mountain community west to Arlington. Now that State Route 530 is blocked by debris up to 70 feet high - including mangled cars compacted to the size of small refrigerators - it can take three hours. Aside from a lengthy northern detour, intrepid drivers can use Mountain Loop Highway, a harrowing, rutted road that saves an hour but can take at least that much time off your life.

The probability of a catastrophic event is inversely proportional to the number of experts predicting it raised to the power of the media hype. ANTHONY TRONE Upland

PARIS - Not long ago, I attended a colloquium of French scientists and philosophers in Corsica, France, called "How to Think About the Future. " With few exceptions, the astrophysicists, economists, physicians and social theorists on hand offered dark visions of tomorrow. A new financial crisis, water and grain shortages, endless war, a general collapse of ecosystems - we were spared no catastrophic scenario. A month earlier, I had been invited by the environmentalist think tank Breakthrough to San Francisco, where I reflected with a group of thinkers on the Schumpeterian economic idea of "creative destruction" and its application to energy production.

It is regrettable that Max Boot demonstrates such a reckless attitude for the U.S. military when he supports bombing Iran (Opinion, April 5). Disregarding the disastrous rise in oil prices, the effect on our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan would be catastrophic. Whose side is he on? BOB DUNHAM Pasadena

Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Tex.) said today that new revenue estimates may enable the 33 million elderly and disabled recipients of Medicare to pay substantially less for controversial catastrophic health care protection enacted last year. Bentsen said the amount Medicare recipients pay could be cut by at least 16% because the Congressional Budget Office said the surplus in the catastrophic care funds "is twice as large as originally estimated, two times bigger than needed" to fulfill the law's financial requirements.

According to the article, I am one of the "affluent elderly." That's news to me. Elderly, OK, but "affluent"? I wish I had the income to match the appellation. Only due to a lifetime of prudence have I achieved "comfortable." Now, in spite of "no new taxes," the catastrophic health care surtax wipes out, to the penny, my state teacher's retirement cost of living raise for this year. Add to that the rise in Medicare Part B premium as well as the sharp rise in medi-gap supplemental insurance, and more to come yearly, how much longer will "comfortable" apply?

The decision by the Reagan Administration to send advanced, shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft Stinger missiles to the Afghan and Angola rebels is a serious mistake. It could be a catastrophic error. I shudder to think if a few of those missiles fall into the hands of anti-American terrorists. Any U.S. airliner in the world could be an inviting target. WILLIAM P. HESSE Chatsworth

A group of House Republicans introduced legislation to delay implementation of major provisions of Medicare's new catastrophic illness protections, including a controversial income tax surcharge. Rep. Harris W. Fawell (R-Ill.), who instigated the legislation, acknowledged an uphill fight in getting the measure considered by the full House. However, the Ways and Means Committee must send the measure to the floor if a majority of House members--218--sign a petition demanding such action.

Re "Flight fight closely watched," May 19 Though the article is very informative about the concerns airport users and the Federal Aviation Administration have regarding Santa Monica's recently passed ordinance, the communities' concerns are not vented enough. Santa Monica and Los Angeles neighborhoods bordering the airport have been forced to live with increased noise, the threat of a potential catastrophic accident and the ongoing onslaught of toxic jet-engine emissions that invade their homes.

It seems to happen at a disturbingly frequent rate. A massive typhoon, hurricane, earthquake, tsunami or other horrible catastrophe occurs. The media show heart-wrenching images of disaster beyond anything most people have seen or could even begin to imagine. People want to help; it is human nature to want to help. And many aid agencies offer just that opportunity as they fundraise for relief efforts. But if we give to them, does it actually make a difference? This isn't about deceitful and fraudulent charities.

As the acute problems of the Affordable Care Act become increasingly apparent, it also has become clear that we need new ways of ensuring access to healthcare for all Americans. We should begin with an examination of health insurance. Insurance is about protecting against risk. In the health arena, the risk at issue is of large and unexpected medical expenses. The proper role of health insurance should be to finance necessary and expensive medical services without the patient incurring devastating financial consequences.

Death and denial were made for each other, but for those facing tragedy, the raw truth can be a tonic. In "We're Gonna Die," theater artist Young Jean Lee turns the bleaker facts of life into a delightful, hourlong hipster cabaret. The show, a presentation of UCLA's Center For the Art of Performance running through Sunday at the Actors' Gang at the Ivy Substation in Culver City, introduces one of New York's most exciting experimental playwrights to Southern California. Daft, direct, unvarnished and stylishly awkward, Lee's shape-shifting work doesn't try to bowl us over with its polish and professionalism.

"The Book Thief," the handsome, inevitable adaptation of Markus Zusak's internationally bestselling novel, unfolds as a curiosity on the big screen. Centered on a war-afflicted girl who develops a passion for books, it features little discussion of the emotional pull of reading, storytelling or writing. It's set in Hitler-run, World War II-era Germany with an odd emphasis on uplift over unease. And, most peculiarly, it's a tale narrated by Death (a slithery-sounding Roger Allam) that wants tears shed for tragedies that befall its big-hearted non-Jewish German characters, but skirts explicitly addressing the fate of that generation's Jews.

Re "Experts set threshold for climate-change calamity," Sept. 28 Twenty-five years to reach the climate-change tipping point sounds like a long time. But the truth is it will take all of that time, and more, to rebuild our fossil fuel-based energy system using clean renewable energy. It will take a concerted, sustained effort to make it happen, not business as usual. A good place to start is to implement the "polluter pays" principle: Add a price to carbon so that what a consumer pays includes the cost of the damage caused by burning it. When this price is included in the cost, clean renewables are clearly the low-cost option.

The Dodgers are set to open the National League playoffs on Thursday, Oct. 3, according to a postseason schedule released Tuesday by Major League Baseball. That date comes four days after the conclusion of the regular season. The Dodgers thus would have plenty of time to align their starting rotation so Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke could start the first two games of the first round on normal rest. This assumes, of course, that the Dodgers win the NL West. They lead the Arizona Diamondbacks by 12½ games with 25 to play.

I take issue with your statement that the legislation to expand Medicare benefits is "an excellent piece of legislation" (editorial, "The Applause Is Deserved," June 3). Instead of providing "catastrophic care," the bill is a financial catastrophe for the overwhelming majority of seniors. At first glance, the bill appears to be laudatory. However, after reading the provisions, the cons far outweigh the pros. As you say in the editorial, "But it does not address the greatest health-finance catastrophe facing older Americans--the cost of long-term nursing-home care that each year consumes the life savings of thousands of senior citizens."

Re "New Law Aids Victims of Terrorism," Nov. 27: President Bush signed the terror insurance bill, saying that "should terrorists strike America again, we have a system in place to address financial losses and get our economy back on its feet as quickly as possible." This would ensure that insurance companies and real estate developers do not suffer overwhelming financial losses in a catastrophic terror event. Would that he sign a similar bill for the more than 40 million Americans who do not have health insurance, who may suffer overwhelming medical bills in a catastrophic event and who do not have a system in place to address their financial losses.

Climate change presents two distinct problems. The first is linear: A little more warming causes a little more damage. The second is nonlinear: A little more warming pushes some part of the climate system past a tipping point and the damage becomes catastrophic. We need smart climate policies that address both problems, so we can slow incremental damage while also taking out an insurance policy against the growing risk of catastrophic damage. The Arctic is a prime example of a potential tipping point.

Some 6,000 refugees pour out of Syria every day, straining humanitarian aid resources and destabilizing the country's neighbors. Cumulatively, they already make up 10% of the population of Jordan. And there is no end in sight. Antonio Guterres, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, says the displacement of people has not risen "at such a frightening rate" since the Rwandan genocide of 1994. The absolute size of the humanitarian catastrophe may not yet match the largest of recent times, such as the 2010 floods in Pakistan, but Syria is working hard to catch up. Moreover, its political effects are potentially far greater than those of any tsunami or earthquake.