The Aug. 21 headline on a letter, “A public option won’t work,” is a too obvious lie, like other popular press quotes such as “death squads” and other shouted calls from Sarah Palin and her coterie of Republican followers and corporate self-interest.

I am one of millions who can attest to the excellence of a public option.

The nation’s largest integrated health-care system has a medical care federal appropriation of more than $47 billion. It employs more than 239,000 staff, operating 1,557 hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, domiciles and readjustment counseling centers. In addition, it is the nation’s largest provider of graduate medical education and a major contributor to medical research.

This public health system serves millions of veterans. There are millions of more Americans served by Medicare and Medicaid. I haven’t the time to do the numbers but I find the rapid service and high expertise of the Veterans Administration clinics and hospitals equals what I found in Italy, Spain and England, as well as Cuba, where I have participated or observed their public options.

Bill Ellis, Rangeley