Did you see the Koch Brothers-sponsored television ad showing this lady in the doctor’s office waiting to be examined and a leering Uncle Sam pops up between her legs and the screen says, “Don’t let government play doctor”?

It is of course an anti-ObamaCare advertisement, which caused Ann and me to pause.

We are both on Medicare, a fully-sponsored government-run program. We have never seen Uncle Sam in the doctor’s office or at the hospital. In fact, we were tickled pink when we became eligible for Medicare because that program was so much better than the private sector policy we had been enduring. Thinking back, I believe the chances of the Vice President of Claims saying, “Now cough, Bill,” was much greater than Uncle Sam uttering these same words.

“Don’t mess with the best medical care in the world!”

Uninformed words spoken by those who have health insurance and don’t have to wonder if they or their children are sick enough to go to a crowded hospital emergency room and wait hours to see a physician; insured people who have not walked in the shoes of a single one of the 40 million citizens who have no health insurance and face such decisions time after time. And, before anyone brags about this nation’s medical care, they should look up the discouraging statistics and see how the United States compares to the rest of the world.

John Bogle had an excellent letter in last week’s paper in which he talked about elevating our communication to a more civilized level. As he pointed out, discussions should be based on facts. The Koch Brothers and others would do well to heed such advice. (Like so many wealthy individuals I’ll bet the Koch Brothers have retained the services of a concierge physician to be on call 24/7!)