Providing Health Insurance

There is much to commend the Garamendi plan, but I feel I must speak up for one group of people who could literally be held prisoner in California by such a plan.

I refer to present and future retirees who move out of state to stretch their retirement dollars. They are dependent upon company-provided health insurance, either as a supplement to Medicare, or in the case of early retirees who are not yet eligible for Medicare, they are totally dependent on such insurance.

The Garamendi proposal is based on regional California health care centers. This would force all retirees who are not healthy enough to obtain full or supplemental coverage from some private company to remain in California. Whether they can afford it or not.

JEAN DE MARINES, Hollywood