Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

Re “The Public Imperative,” by Roger Cohen (column, The New York Times on the Web, Oct. 5):

Mr. Cohen urges Congress to include a public option in the health care legislation, like that in most European countries.

I don’t know how those European plans are run, but I would feel a lot more sanguine about a public option in the United States if it were not for the fact that the largest current public option, Medicare, is riddled with fraud and waste, has trillions in unfunded liabilities and is not accepted by many of the best doctors.

First fix Medicare, fiscally and operationally. Then we can talk about more public options.

Richard Wood
Estes Park, Colo., Oct. 5, 2009