Competition Good

* In response to Paul Feldstein’s commentary, “The Diagnosis Is Poor for Medical Specialists Going It Alone” (July 14), regarding the proposed “any willing provider” laws currently under review: If a health-care provider is able to meet the contract requirements of managed care organizations (both in terms of managing costs and patient outcomes), then he/she should be allowed to compete with other providers for that patient base.

Giving managed care organizations the power to potentially “lock out” highly qualified specialists who wish to remain independent and not to join large multi-specialty medical groups seems contrary to many of the economic principles that American society values.

While admittedly there is an oversupply of certain medical specialists in the United States, market forces, not government legislation, should weed out those practitioners who are unable to provide quality care at competitive prices.

KAREN MELANSON

Mission Viejo