LETTERS TO THE EDITOR : HMO Initiatives Not Competing

* Barbara Marsh, in her article “Dueling HMO Initiatives Could Give Voters Headache” (April 12), has turned my comments around. I’d like to clarify. I said that, although people seemed tired of all the initiatives out there, when I offered them a chance to sign the petition to stop HMO abuses, most were very eager to sign it.

Ms. Marsh also gives the impression that the proponents of these two initiatives are fighting against each other. I made it quite clear that although I believed the [California Nurses Assn.] initiative was more far-reaching and offered more consumer safeguards, I felt that both initiatives served to help the health-care consumer. I have signed the other initiative and I know proponents of that initiative who have signed the CNA petition.

The so-called headache that voters might get from the two initiatives does not compare to the pain and suffering patients experience at the hands of some HMOs.

LORIE FISHER, R.N.

Laguna Hills