Abstract
To the Editor: The excellent article by Robinson et al. in the July 9 issue* attributes a discouraging effect on the availability of coronary angioplasty and bypass surgery to rate-regulation programs in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Maryland. All those states, with the partial exception of Maryland, operated and continue to operate strong certificate-of-need programs as well as hospital rate-setting programs. I have administered both rate-setting and certificate-of-need programs in one of those states (New Jersey), and I always had a strong sense that the certificate of need represented a much more important regulatory control on cardiac services…