Mayor acting like a child in push end to mask mandate
I was absolutely appalled to turn on “Chicago Tonight” on WTTW/Channel 11 last week and see Steve Chirico, in his official capacity as mayor of Naperville, advocate for the removal of mask mandates in Illinois.
He had no cogent arguments to advance in favor of his demand, except to say that neighboring Midwestern states do not have mask mandates. That is exactly the same as a child telling his mother, “Everybody else gets to do it!”
In DuPage County, we currently have a COVID-19 positivity rate of 4% and it’s ticking up. This is in comparison to the state of Michigan, which has a positivity rate of over 11%. So exactly how does Mayor Chirico decide that Michigan, which does not have a mask mandate, is on a par with Illinois, which does?
We’re all tired of this pandemic, tired of restrictions and certainly tired of wearing masks. But the pandemic is not over, and whining about the minor inconvenience of wearing a mask is not going to help it disappear faster. The sooner every eligible person gets fully vaccinated, religiously wears a mask indoors in public places and washes their hands, the sooner we will be done with it.
In the meantime, keep those masks on, Mayor Chirico. You are doing an incredible disservice to Naperville by advocating the opposite.
Barbara Lipkin, Naperville
Congress needs to fix disparity in Medicare Advantage program
It is the time of year again when insurance companies bombard us with Medicare Advantage commercials. “Get free dental, vision and hearing benefits,” the celebrities say. “Call now!”
What many seniors don’t realize is that whether it is a Medicare Advantage plan provided by a private insurer or original Medicare, we have been paying a $148.50 monthly premium in 2021 for Part B (medical insurance).
The “free” benefits touted in the commercials are not free because Congress gave $41.8 billion in taxpayer rebates to the private insurance companies in 2021 ($400 billion over 20 years) to provide special benefits to 24.9 million Medicare Advantage enrollees, which 41 million original Medicare participants are not eligible to receive.
Medicare Advantage was established by Congress based on private insurers saying they could be competitive with original Medicare, but they never have.
In 2021, Medical Advantage payments were 104% of the cost for original Medicare Fee-for-Service enrollee. Medicare Advantage rebates cost taxpayers $140 per month per enrollee ($1,680 annually) in 2021. Rebates were $81 per month per enrollee ($972 annually) in 2016.
It is time for Congress to level the playing field for participants in the two programs!
Walter E. Rittle, Naperville
State needs to curb ‘unsustainable’ rate hikes for Nicor
It’s unacceptable that Nicor Gas pushed for higher rates — its third record request in four years — while people are struggling under a pandemic and the highest winter heating prices in more than a decade.
Since 2017, Nicor Gas has now received hundreds of millions of dollars in total rate hikes — and has increased delivery rates by nearly 80%. Under current gas policy, Nicor, Peoples Gas and Ameren Illinois enjoy reduced regulatory oversight, which allows them to add a “Qualified Infrastructure Plant (QIP)” surcharge to gas bills, aggressively and unnecessarily run up costs and plunge many consumers into a heating affordability crisis.
Gas customers are in dire need of policy reform. Illinois must slow down these unsustainable rate increases, implement holistic system planning and stop digging a deeper and deeper hole in support of a fossil fuel that hurts our pocketbooks and the environment.
David Kolata, Executive Director of CUB
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