Letters to the Editor: Readers respond to Congressional term limits proposal, Medicare coverage

The Capitol at sunrise in Washington, Oct. 1, 2025. The government shut down on Wednesday morning at 12:01 a.m., amid a bitter spending deadlock between President Trump and Democrats in Congress that will disrupt federal services and leave many federal workers furloughed. (Alex Kent/The New York Times)

Credit: NYT

Credit: NYT

The Capitol at sunrise in Washington, Oct. 1, 2025. The government shut down on Wednesday morning at 12:01 a.m., amid a bitter spending deadlock between President Trump and Democrats in Congress that will disrupt federal services and leave many federal workers furloughed. (Alex Kent/The New York Times)

Responding to State Representative Heidi Workman’s column regarding amending the US Constitution to add Congressional term limits, this seems well intended but misses the mark. After all, our state legislature has been under term limits since 1993, and it has had little impact in reducing hyper-partisanship, increasing responsiveness, or eliminating corruption.

Perhaps Representative Workman’s efforts should be pointed at an amendment to increase the size of the US House to reflect the growth in population. Per the Pew Institute, “In the century-plus since the number of House seats first reached its current total of 435, the representation ratio has more than tripled – from one representative for every 209,447 people in 1910 to one for every 747,184 as of last year.” This ratio is significantly larger than any other industrialized democracy in the world. If we want our reps to be more responsive and less partisan, perhaps the outdated ratio should be the target.

- Sam Davis, Kettering

In response to Heidi Workman’s column, term limits are not the way to go. They are not working in Ohio. We need to go after the money. Congress needs to go after Citizens United and dark monies. The campaign season should be shortened. We don’t need campaigns lasting for months or years. We need better enforcement of campaign laws and financial guardrails on insider trading of our legislatures and executive branches and their families. Representatives don’t need to personally trade stocks and bonds. We need to stop the revolving door from legislation to lobbyist.

We have term limits now — votes. We as voters just need to do a little research on candidates and not vote for name recognition. Term limits make for complacent voters. As things are unfolding we are learning freedom is not free. We the voters need candidates to understand that they work for us and that we control their jobs through the ballot box. Please be an informed voter!

- Bill Coppess, Ansonia

Support kidney patients by fixing Medicare gaps. In 2017, I had a heart attack, stroke, and was diagnosed with kidney failure. I soon began dialysis, the only treatment besides a transplant for kidney failure. Thankfully, I received a transplant more than three years ago.

I may be post-transplant, but I know many who are still on dialysis, including my mother. My sisters and I have been caring for her through her dialysis journey. We couldn’t imagine our mother going through this alone. Yet, many patients don’t have support systems. That’s why we need a system that’s fair and forward-looking, one that doesn’t abandon patients. That’s why I’m advocating for the passage of the Kidney Care Access Protection Act in Congress. It won’t fix everything, but it’s a step in the right direction.

If passed, it would help ensure that new, innovative treatments for dialysis patients, like medications for anemia, phosphorus, pruritus, and infection prevention remain fully covered after Medicare’s current short-term payment pathways expire. That would be one less thing to worry about for patients already struggling with dialysis. And for patients who still rely on dialysis clinics, the bill would help those centers get fairer payments from Medicare so they can afford better staffing and services.

I urge Congress to support the Kidney Care Access Protection Act and stand with Ohioans who live with kidney disease.

- Porothea Dennis, Dayton


This is an aerial of downtown Dayton skyline looking northeast. The warm early autumn weather will continue until cool weather moves in over the weekend. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER

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Credit: JIM NOELKER

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