FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Suzy DeFrancis (202) 973-3610
Renae Wagner
(202 973-1376
Washington, DC, February 3, 1999 - We are disappointed
that last year's Patient Protection Act has been reintroduced by
Representative Bilirakis (R-FL). The mandates included in this bill will
drive up health care costs - which are already on the rise - and increase
the number of uninsured Americans.
We are encouraged, however, that the bill does not include the
liability provision that is the centerpiece of the Kennedy-Dingell
Patients' Bill of Rights - exposing health plans, and the employers who
sponsor them, to costly new lawsuits. In addition to lining the pockets of
trial lawyers, this provision is estimated to increase premiums by 8.6%
and force nearly two million more people to lose their coverage next year
(Barents Group, 1998).
Although the Patient Protection Act does not go as far as the Kennedy-Dingell bill, it still goes too far and too fast in substituting "Washington knows best" regulations for the flexibility and innovation of our private health care market. It is unfortunately another case of a well-intended approach having serious unintended consequences when packaged as federal legislation.
