Published in The Washington Post Letters to the Editor, July 25, 2014

Regarding Petula Dvorak’s July 19 Metro column, “Lines of desperation: Once-a-year chance to get medical care”:

Ms. Dvorak is right: This misery should not exist. Southwestern Virginians have been dealing with a lack of health care for many years, and I hoped the Affordable Care Act would help us get access to the care we need. Instead, without the expansion of Medicaid in Virginia, many working citizens still go begging for medical care.

This health-care fight between the two parties is killing more Americans than any terrorist group could. That is not a record for the state legislature or Congress to be proud of.

Denise A. Smith, Rocky Gap, Va.