Laws Changing Managed Care

Re “Searching for a Cure to What Ails Managed Care System,” Oct. 4:

In the case of baby Anna’s protein allergy, it appears that United Healthcare needs more than an independent review board--it sorely needs a new dictionary. Neocate is sustenance, not a food supplement.

Since the managed care concept has never worked well anywhere on Earth, particularly in our country, there is really nothing the House can do to repair its flawed DNA. Gasoline prices have also been soaring and gasoline is also an essential part in our lives, yet has anyone even considered managing its cost? The last time we tried price control and rationing on gasoline, it worked just as well as our current managed health care system.

JOHN T. CHIU MD

Newport Beach

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Imperfect as their proposals may be (editorial, Oct. 3), at least Bill Bradley and Al Gore have brought the crisis in health care coverage to the fore, while the various GOP contenders have largely ignored the issue. Bradley’s idea to allow nonfederal employees to purchase insurance through the Federal Employee Health Benefits program is a good first step. But why not go further and do this in a sensible, coherent fashion that would fulfill President Harry S. Truman’s 50-year-old dream of bringing universal coverage to every American?

I suggest that we take part of the budget surplus, together with a new value-added tax, and use the funds to provide FEHB coverage for everyone under age 65, regardless of their employment status. No more means-tested Medicaid, painful employer benefit cuts or uninsured adults and children to worry about. Everyone not eligible for Medicare would be covered under a single-payer umbrella that offered them a choice of managed care or traditional fee-for-service plans--as federal employees from postal workers to members of Congress have long enjoyed.

HAROLD N. BASS MD

Northridge

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In a number of articles recently, I’ve read our elected representatives saying, “It would be bad for business.” “It” being HMO regulations, overtime laws, minimum wages and a host of other consumer protections. I wasn’t aware that business elected our legislators.

JOHN NACHREINER

Redondo Beach