Letters to the Editor — Thursday, April 30

Omissions in ‘surging gas prices’ article

Last week’s front-page article, “Surging gas prices stretch local budgets,” was timely and certainly of interest to everyone. However, I noted two obvious omissions. One, there was no mention of local governments adjusting their budgets by reducing spending as most families must do when confronted by rising prices in the face of fixed incomes. When costs rise for essential commodities such as gasoline, the logical response is to temporarily cut back on spending for non-essential things like entertainment and eating out, or postponing major purchases. The economy is cyclical and the cost of gasoline fluctuates. It will not remain high forever. Budgets can always be readjusted when things return to what passes for normal — for families and local governments, alike.

Speaking of which, the present cost of gasoline has risen from approximately $3.00 a gallon a year ago to about $4.00 presently. This is due to our current conflict with Iran, something which began 47 years ago. The Iranian mullahs declared war on us but we never responded. Every president just kicked the can down the road, expecting a successor to deal with it. “It,” of course, was the threat of a nuclear attack as soon as they completed a weapon to use. They got closer and closer until President Trump moved preemptively to eliminate the threat. Geopolitics are complicated and things do not get resolved overnight. The rest of us need to practice patience.

I noted one more thing in the article. While the cost of a gallon of gasoline rose from $3.00 to its current $4.00 in the past year, nowhere in was it mentioned that the average weekly retail gasoline price hit an all-time high of $5.07 a gallon in 2022 when Joseph Biden was President. Most people seem to have selective amnesia.

Richard Kopec
Sharon

Medicaid critical for dementia testing

I think that almost everyone knows someone or some family that has been affected by — or is currently affected by — Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. There is some good news: medical science now knows of diet and other lifestyle changes that can help prevent or delay the onset of dementia.

There is FDA-approved biomarker testing that can inform people of dementia risks with a simple blood test. Biomarker testing is available for cancer risks as well. Early warnings of cancer can, of course, also help patients to fight this disease more effectively. As the old saying goes, “knowledge is power.”

Disappointingly, Governor Hochul has scaled back Medicaid coverage for these blood tests from her 2027 budget. I think that it is cruel and ultimately bad for our society as a whole not to provide Medicaid coverage for biomarker testing for those who are among the most vulnerable in our State.

I am hopeful that our representatives in the State Senate and State Assembly — Senator Hinchey and Assemblywoman Barrett — will use their influence to get Medicaid coverage for biomarker testing back in the 2027 budget.

Amy Rothstein
Pine Plains