DATE: Sunday, March 9, 1997                 TAG: 9703070021

SECTION: COMMENTARY              PAGE: J4   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Letter

                                            LENGTH:  125 lines

LETTERS

Senior citizens in a Catch-22

Having achieved ``senior citizen'' status, I subscribe to Modern Maturity magazine. Contained within the pages of the March-April edition is a classic Catch-22.

Mary Rowland writes in ``Transfer Assets, Go to Jail,'' that the newly passed Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act has buried within it a provision whereby senior citizens can be criminalized and put in jail. The crime: attempting to qualify for Medicaid nursing-home benefits while seeking to preserve their estate by transferring their assets.

In the same magazine, Jennifer Reid Holman writes in ``Prison Care'' about the rising annual tab for elderly state inmates' nursing-home care, which currently averages $69,000 a year, or about three times the cost of comparable nursing-home care on the outside.

So how can this be? The simple answer:

``The Constitution doesn't mandate health coverage for regular citizens, but for prisoners we're obligated to provide appropriate medical care, whatever the cost.''

So there you have it - if you want to preserve your estate, if you seek government assistance for your nursing-home needs, transfer your assets and go to prison. That is where the state will provide nursing-home benefits.

It is exhilarating to witness such brilliant legislation. And what about overcrowding in the prisons? I'm sure they'll take care of that too.

Hollie J. Tiedemann Jr.

Virginia Beach, March 1, 1997

Ancestors had link to Jefferson

George Tucker's recent article on Thomas Jefferson's voyages to France might have added that Jefferson lived briefly in northern Massachusetts immediately prior to his ambassadorial voyage on the ship Ceres, owned by my ancestral grandfather, Patrick Tracy, of Newburyport, Mass.

Jefferson and his small entourage were honored guests in grandfather Tracy's handsome residence (it is now the Newburyport public library) while the Ceres was being outfitted for the voyage.

My ancestral uncle, Nathaniel Tracy, accompanied Jefferson as his host on the 19-day voyage to France, sharing meals and discussing a wide range of subjects. Family records indicate that Jefferson asked countless questions, seeking to amplify his knowledge and understanding of New England culture. He also wrote a poem about the Tracy family.

Loring T. Briggs

Onancock, Feb. 25, 1997

Good cause, bad side effects

I am not unaware of the emotional and sometimes financial devastation cancer can wreak on one's family. Both of my parents died in the '60s of cancer, and I lost a sister three months ago to cancer.

The approval of the conditional-use permit for Bubba House in Point O' Woods has opened the door to any other ``good cause'' someone deems important. We now have a precedent for a small convalescent home, a homeless shelter, perhaps a halfway house for juvenile delinquents or convicts, or maybe a drug rehab center. The integrity of our single-family dwelling neighborhood has been breached. Thank you, Virginia Beach City Council!

Now that Bubba House has been approved, I wonder who is going to mow the lawn weekly, pick up trash thrown or blown from busy Great Neck Road, put out the trash can on Monday evening, retrieve same and return to the back out of sight of the street.

I sympathize with the immediate neighbors but am truly thankful I live a few blocks away.

Barbara L. Martin

Virginia Beach, Feb. 26, 1997

Human rights begin right here

Hardly a day goes by without reading in the newspaper about the United States' concerns for human rights in some foreign country.

It's time we started looking at ourselves.

When our citizens feel it necessary to secure their doors with two and three dead-bolt locks, their human rights are being violated.

When ordinary families feel threatened by drug pushers on every other corner or a crack house or two in the neighborhood, their human rights are being violated.

When a citizen can't park his/her vehicle on the street for fear he/she will come back to a stripped vehicle or no vehicle at all, human rights are being violated.

And when you can't safely walk the streets at night nor stroll in the parks

Jack C. Tillett

Wanchese, N.C., Feb. 25, 1997

Area income figures misleading

Many were shocked that the NHL ranked Columbus, Ohio, and Oklahoma City in front of Hampton Roads. The media reported that our median income is higher than the other cities' ($38,000 per the Rhinos video) and repeated the Hampton Roads mantra . . . our region has the largest population without a major sports team. What could have happened?

U.S. Census Bureau statistics show that the median income per household for the city of Virginia Beach is about $38,000 per year, but Virginia Beach is the richest city in the region. Clearly, this wouldn't be representative of Hampton Roads. A fairer comparison would be to look at the median income per household for the metropolitan areas. The median household income for the three cities follows: Columbus, $27,000; Oklahoma City, $26,000; and Norfolk, $24,000.

If you consider population of the metropolitan areas, Norfolk again comes in last. Both Columbus and Oklahoma City are twice the size of Norfolk. Of course, that is why we extend our region to include all of the communities between here and Richmond. The problem is that if Columbus and Oklahoma City were to ``regionalize'' and extend their boundaries to Cleveland and Tulsa, we would still be eating their dust if population size were compared.

I would welcome factual analysis of the region's ability to support a pro-team. Ultimately, the issue of whether to support an arena with public funds should be decided by taxpayer referendum.

W. Meade Stith

Norfolk, Feb. 26, 1997

Special-ed girl deserves her tassel

Regarding the Feb. 26 article, ``Special-education grad, 11 times on honor roll, wants gold tassel'':

I agree that the schools should keep to their code about gold tassels, or else it becomes meaningless.

I also agree that students who work so hard should have some recognition for their achievements.

Surely it would be simple to make another category for such people, award them a gold and silver or gold and white tassel to honor them.

My good wishes and congratulations to the young Newport News lady on her achievements, and on her choice of parents, who have done such a wonderful job.

D. I. McNicholas

Virginia Beach, Feb. 26, 1997

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