To the Editor:

As a family physician for 47 years, I totally agree with Paul Krugman’s May 22 column, “Blue Double Cross.” Health care insurers are more bureaucratic than any government agency. They often deny choice of doctor, and refuse to pay for care.

My experience with the government programs, Medicare and Medicaid, is that the reimbursement for services may be low, but there is one uniform set of rules to follow.

Each health care insurer has a different set of rules. The reimbursement for services varies widely and the doctor sometimes doesn’t know where to send the patient for laboratory or other tests. Furthermore, the physician often doesn’t know whether the prescriptions he or she writes will be covered.

As Mr. Krugman reports, insurance companies are still bad for your health.

Melvin H. Kirschner

Granada Hills, Calif., May 22, 2009