Letters: Bill to help dialysis patients, not following Bible, grateful for workshop, paving

Rep. Houchin needs to support act to help dialysis patients in Indiana

Dialysis patients and families of the 9th Congressional District need your help.

In 2022, the Supreme Court decided that group health plans do not violate the Medicare Secondary Payer Plan (MSP) law by changing the benefits for dialysis patients, which could force them into government coverage. This decision will place dialysis patients and their families in severe financial hardship, as Medicare only covers 80% of our health care expenses.

Only recently did my state look at increasing patient access to private plans to help us cover the remaining 20%. In the meantime, we face restricted access to care and even potential financial insolvency, until we spend down our assets to qualify for our state Medicaid program as our only option.

My name is Arthur L. Hill, and I know this firsthand because I am a dialysis patient. I have lived through this process and am trying to survive it today. The dialysis patients and their families of the 9th Congressional District request that Congresswoman Erin Houchin (R-IN) support The Restore Protections for Dialysis Patients Act (S. 4750 and H.R. 8594). Supporting this act will help dialysis patients, their family members, and all your constituents in the 9th Congressional District.

Arthur Hill, Bedford

Not following the teachings of the Bible?

Loving immigrants as ourselves? “You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:33-24

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Hebrews 13:2

“You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the sojourners who reside among you and have had children among you. They shall be to you as native-born children of Israel. With you they shall be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.” Ezekiel 47:22

The Bible is clear about how to treat immigrants. We “shall love them as ourselves.” Building a wall to keep immigrants out is not “loving them as ourselves." A raid on a meatpacking plant in Iowa in 2008 arresting 398 employees, 98% of whom were Latino, was not “loving them as ourselves.” Massive deportations of immigrants by any former, current or future president are certainly “not loving them as ourselves.”

I sure would love to know how Christians who are adamant about following the Bible justify massive deportations of immigrants.

Gerhard Glomm, Bloomington

Appreciates support for creative aging workshop

I would like to extend my appreciation to the Indiana Arts Commission and the Brown County Art Gallery Foundation for their support in launching our creative aging workshop.

This program would not be possible without the vision of Board President Lyn Letsinger Miller, the assistance of Miah Michaelsen from the Indiana Arts Commission, our amazing instructor Amanda Mathis, creative chef Robert Marani, the staff at the gallery, our wonderful volunteers (Brenda Kelley and Dan Waldheir), and our newfound family/participants. Our goal was to create a program where seniors in our community could come together, find purpose and combat the isolation and loneliness that COVID, other situations, whether health or otherwise, has left them feeling isolated and alone.

A $10,000 grant awarded through the Indiana Arts Commission allowed us to fulfill this goal. In January 2024, we advertised the start of “make art make friends” a creative aging experience for seniors 55 and older. Within a week we were fully booked for all four months of sessions with a long waitlist for each month. Due to such an overwhelming response from the community, the Gallery Foundation Board subsidized the program to accommodate more participants, but we still could not fill the need for everyone.

The program spanned over four months of professional art sessions with each month focusing on a specific theme/area of study. All supplies and lunch were included. Transportation was provided through our local Brown County Access for participants who needed this service.

At the end of the program, a celebratory exhibition/reception was held to showcase the participants’ work. It was a wonderful event with around 100 people in attendance. Our goal is to continue this program for years to come. We are currently working on ways to sustain this program and strengthen our role in the community.

Thank you to everyone for all your hard work and dedication in keeping the arts alive and supporting this creative aging program in our community. I look forward to seeing and working with everyone soon.

Kimoy Bennett, assistant/project manager at Brown County Art Gallery

Grateful for repaving of Monroe County road

Many thanks to the highway department workers who recently worked in the heat to repave Brummetts Creek from East Ind. 45 to East Baby Creek Road! The road is awesome now! It's much appreciated! Additionally, noteworthy is the speed (two days) with which the department accomplished the paving. I hope the rest of the road will get repaved soon but the worst has been done. The extensive patching done on the remainder of the road should hold it until it can be repaved.

Karen Willett, Bloomington