Indeed, more people will be covered with the health care legislation passed recently by the Senate and House of Representatives, but this legislation will not address adequately the very significant problem of the current cost and anticipated escalation of it.

The legislation is very complex, administratively cumbersome, inefficient and difficult to implement and monitor. At the same time, insurance and pharmaceutical companies will remain largely unregulated and will continue to derive inordinate profits from their operation.

In the process of reforming the system, our legislators lost sight of the guiding principles for the reform. They have failed to put aside their preconceptions, biases and above all their personal interests.

To achieve a truly meaningful reform our legislators needed to have given fair consideration to the Single Payer Systems that function very well in other countries and achieve universal coverage at reasonable cost to their societies. If they are truly committed to achieving a meaningful reform, they must at least incorporate a strong, well structured Public Plan in the reform. Otherwise, they would be ignoring the principles that brought this issue to the forefront and neglecting some of the very fundamental needs of our society.

Gustavo S. Montana

Chapel Hill