(MONEY Magazine) – In ''A Cure Your M.D. Won't Like,'' printed in the special year-end edition of MONEY, you hope to ''shift the tide back toward lower-tech, lower-cost treatment'' in an effort to pay doctors less. Great, let us throw all the CAT, MRI and PET scanners in the ocean. Thomas R. Beaver, M.D. Denver

Your writer asserts that physicians ''designed and control'' America's health- care system. The system of Medicare and Medicaid was designed by the government against the protest of physicians who predicted the bankruptcy it now faces. And who is overseeing this mess? That same government. ) Representative Pete Stark's bill making it illegal for physicians to invest in the same clinical labs where they refer Medicare patients will impact on fewer than one in 10 physicians. Physicians invest in clinical labs because it is often the only means by which their community can have access to a particular medical service. The author says the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) is a trend that will ''benefit patients.'' No mention is made that physicians have been crucial in its development. Most disappointing is the author's mention of outcomes analysis as a means of cutting costs. She fails to recognize the American Medical Association as being in the forefront of the development of outcomes research. Physicians are leading the way in rebuilding America's health-delivery system. Joseph T. Painter Chairman, Board of Trustees American Medical Association Chicago

I've fought for years now against doctors' excessive fees, unnecessary diagnostic tests, their connections with laboratories, overbilling procedures and so forth. Keep up the good work. Theodore H. Puchkoff Delray Beach, Fla.