
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 21, 1992                   TAG: 9203230166
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

MEDICAL-CARD PLAN COULD COVER ALL

MERTON BERNSTEIN's commentary (March 6) was a welcome contrast to the usual comments on health care, which seem designed to continue something like the present system, where the insurance companies receive around 25 percent of the cost for paperwork and profit.

His "NationalCare" proposal would continue to use the Medicare intermediaries for the billing and paying. This is a needless expense. However, he proposes that the plan be replaced in three years; meantime, Medicare should be an acceptable transition mechanism.

Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler of Harvard University Medical School, who founded Physicians for a National Health Plan in 1986, propose that everyone have a medical card that could be used for any covered care, at no expense to the patient. This plan would be administered by state or regional boards. Their figures, as well as the Government Accounting Office, say that this plan could cover all Americans (including the 35 million uninsured), eliminate all co-payments and deductibles, and save money.

President Bush's "health plan" is a joke. The plans of the Democrats involve handing over tax money to insurance companies to run the system. Maybe three years would be long enough to work out a really good health-care plan. BARBARA S. SMITH SHAWSVILLE

by CNB