Grassley’s comments on health care off mark

In a radio interview Aug. 5, Sen. Chuck Grassley said that if Sen. Ted Kennedy lived in a country where the government provides health care insurance, he would not receive proper treatment for his brain tumor due to his age. This is a shockingly way to treat a man who has championed affordable public health care plan for 50 years. It is also false.

Thirty percent of insured Americans already have public health care; a majority of Medicare and Medicaid patients rate the service highly. And of course, were any of these patients to suffer a terrible disease, they would receive the best treatment available - as opposed to a private plan, where the insurer might drop them altogether.

If Grassley stops Americans from choosing affordable and dependable public health care, voters will not forget.

Emilia and Kostya Bristow

Iowa City