(Vicki Gottlich Responds to The Washington Post)

Reporting that "42 million Americans on Medicare will face a dizzying array of  choices" for the new Medicare prescription drug benefit is an understatement [news story, Sept. 24]. Each of the national and regional private organizations approved to sponsor the new drug benefit can offer more than one prescription drug plan. Eighteen national and regional organizations have been approved for Maryland and the District, and 16 have been approved for Virginia, which is in a different region for purposes of drug coverage.

This means that local residents will have a minimum of 16 to 18 plans from which to choose and almost certainly more. Add to that the seven HMOs or PPOs that will be offering at least one managed-care plan with drug coverage in all or part of Virginia, the four that will be offering such plans in Maryland and the four that will be offering plans in the District.  What happened to the concept of Medicare as a unified, national program that could be used anywhere in the country?