I feel the need to try to clarify something. The article states that "Oregon quickly abandoned rationing." This is not accurate.

I practice medicine in Oregon, and the Oregon Health Plan has been working since I arrived here over 8 years ago for Medicaid patients, sometimes better, sometimes worse. Compared to the rest of the country, however, I think we do much better. We currently have a list of things OHP covers and doesn't cover, and it is not based strictly on cold economic principles. We do have real people who make the final decisions about what makes sense to cover and not cover. The decision makers don't always get it right, but decisions that are made at a local level are much more accepted than those imposed from outside, and can be more quickly reversed by raising taxes or cutting benefits. Yes, there are difficult decisions that always need to be made, but people who pay for care need to have the right to determine what care they pay for.

The rest of the country may want to continue to dismiss our system, but someday soon when the rest of our national health care system has imploded, maybe everyone will be more willing to take another look at it.

You all might want to check out our former Governor Kitzhaber's latest project called the Archemedes Project. I think their web site is www.wecandobetter.org.

I view the Oregon plan as a model. Before we can reform our very unhealthy system of health insurance, we will have to acknowledge two truths. First, any moral society must provide (read pay for) health care for all of its citizens.

Second, any system where one group is paying for the care of another (paying for your own family is a different matter) is going to impose limitations on what care is provided.

The only question is whether we are honest about these truths, and therefore make smart, moral choices; or do we pretend that there are no rationing, and therefore make ineffective and immoral choices.

So far, this nation has chosen the later, but I still have hope that someday the people of this country will say they are tired of having the worst health care in the western world, and tired of destroying our own economic base.