By Jerome P. Helman, M.D.
Los Angeles Times, Letters, Jan. 11, 2015
California’s budget is again in peril due to uncontrolled healthcare expenses. Medicaid (California’s Medi-Cal) has always been underfunded and poorly run. Should we continue a healthcare system that is fiscally unsound and a public embarrassment or discard it in favor of transparency, efficiency and affordability? (“California’s soaring healthcare costs bode ill for the budget,” Jan. 8)
Single-payer would fit the bill: Mandate price controls on insurance, drugs and medical supplies while mobilizing nationally to cover everyone, not only those on Medicaid. We cannot have fiscal stability locally without a fiscally sound healthcare system.
Dr. Jerome P. Helman resides in Venice, Calif.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/readersreact/la-le-0111-sunday-healthcare-20150111-story.htmll