Your recent articles proclaiming that "Millions of Americans are without health insurance" and "Winthrop-South Nassau Puts HMO on Notice" are two of many reasons that the Green Party of New York State supports the "Single Payer Health Plan" also known as the Canadian style health plan. Many of us have our own pet peeves against the current USA health plan systems.

We don't consider the current mix of Republicans and Democrats capable of producing such a health plan. That is why we are currently engaged in the slow process of building a new political party, the Green Party, from scratch.

I will give a quick description of the Canadian Health Plan. Since 1971 Canada has had a system under which every citizen is provided full health-care coverage, funded by the federal and provincial governments. Whether Canadians are working or unemployed, and regardless of income, they may seek medical care from the doctor or hospital of their choice. There are no deductibles or co-payments -- a Canadian almost never sees a bill from a hospital or doctor. Canadian doctors practice privately on a fee-for-service basis.

Enormous savings come, first, because the system eliminates the paperwork and administrative waste associated with hundreds of insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid, and countless self-insured corporate plans; and second, because the single-payer agency exercises tremendous control over the market by negotiating the best rates when dealing with hospitals and doctors.

Anyone claiming that the federal system, administered by the states, would be a bureaucratic nightmare that the USA is incapable of handling should remember that the defense industry is doing quite well with basically a single provider - the USA.

Russell Todd