[Tommy]

This heated exchange brings to mind one of my concerns about the direction of our health care system. I am concerned that if Congress gets involved in deciding what treatments must be provided and at what cost to the consumer, it opens the door for them to pander to voters without regard to the costs or medical efficacy of the treatments. If the government wants to be involved, it should appoint a balanced commission that could independently make such decisions. We don't need our Congressmen making these decisions for their own benefits.

Incidentally, what Congress did in this matter was use our own money (i.e., insurance premiums) to buy our votes. They can claim they did something good for us without raising the federal budget. A more sensible approach would be to let those who want a zero co-pay for mamograms purchase a policy that provides that benefit. I personally don't need one.