PacifiCare Has No Plan to Drop Medicare

“PacifiCare Weighs Pulling Out of Medicare” [June 23] misrepresents PacifiCare/Secure Horizons’ commitment to the Medicare program and has the potential to unduly alarm some 600,000 Californians, most of whom are seniors.

Allow me to restate what was said at the press conference: “It only makes sense to be more broadly diversified. But nobody in this company is talking about doing anything to exit the Medicare program or diminish our commitment to it.”

PacifiCare/Secure Horizons expects to remain in all existing service areas in California next year. As the largest Medicare managed-care health plan in the nation providing health-care coverage to people with Medicare, PacifiCare/Secure Horizons has the strength and knowledge to stay while some other health plans will stop participating in this program.

PacifiCare/Secure Horizons has built a great franchise over the past 15 years. We are working hard with our contracted medical groups, physicians and hospitals to balance the health-care delivery system so that it works for everyone for the long term, and we will continue to press Congress for reforms.

We take our role as a health plan to Medicare beneficiaries seriously, and hope that in the future The Times’ coverage of PacifiCare fully discloses all of our statements that impact the health-care delivery of our members.

ROBERT W. O’LEARY

President and chief executive

PacifiCare Health Systems

Santa Ana