To the Editor: We agree with Himmelstein and colleagues (Jan. 12 issue)1 that severe problems afflict health care in the United States. To achieve equitable, high-quality, accessible health care delivered with minimal bureaucratic restraint, they propose a sweeping nationalized system of health insurance. We wholeheartedly agree with their general goals. However, we fear that their plan would not be able to reach its objectives. Large-scale government-run health care in the United States, as exemplified by the Veterans Administration system, has not been a great success. Schemes that depend on the ongoing wisdom and beneficence of the government may founder on…. © 1989, Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved.
