I want to respond to a healthcare debate letter and a comment about Westlake surgeons being nervous about their cushy lifestyles.

This is only the “tip of the iceberg.” Many people in today’s healthcare conspiracy are nervous about losing their income.

I spent almost 20 years tainted by the outrageous amount of money that’s available in the healthcare industry. I worked for Blue Cross, and believe me, not just executives were making a ton of money. Many of us were on base salary, plus commission.

Former executives have retired with tens of millions of dollars from their WellPoint stock options. It’s all public knowledge. If you know the names, look them up on the Internet to see just how much they’ve made from cashing in their stock options—$7 million, $12 million, etc.

This money came from the backs of subscribers!

Then I went to work for Secure Horizons, PacifiCare. I took my division from $50 million to $420 million in a few years.

My department accounted for 30 percent of the total enterprise revenue that year. My reward for this effort was a $30,000 bonus.

That same year, the CEO made $13 million. Imagine, $13 million in one year!

I ended my corporate healthcare career at Prudential Healthcare.

What took me out of this “not so caring” field was a discussion with management about whether a gay man with AIDS should continue to receive intravenous home therapy, because, after all, he was going to die anyway and the treatment was expensive.

And, by the way, it might affect our loss-ratio and we might not get our bonuses for that quarter. Another person and I voted that the man, indeed, “deserved” the treatment and his dignity, but the others wanted their bonuses.

This was insane to me. And it remains insane!

Soon thereafter, I got out.

Obama’s plan has merit if we truthfully discuss it with civility . We need to take our heads out of the sand and not let loudmouths intimidate or misguide us with self-serving misinformation.

They’re only interested in protecting their assets. Carlos Conejo Thousand Oaks