FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWS CONTACTS:
KERRY LYNN SCHMIT
(202) 637-3089
NEIL TRAUTWEIN
(202) 637-3127

NAM SAYS NORWOOD HEALTH CARE BILL IS 'MORE OF THE SAME BAD MEDICINE'

WASHINGTON, D.C., Jan. 7, 1999 - The National Association of Manufacturers today sharply criticized the Access to Quality Care Act, introduced yesterday by Rep. Charles Norwood (R-GA), calling it a "regrettable rehash of last year's doomed and misguided attempt to reform the health care system."

"This 'new' bill is loaded with the same morass of mandates, regulations and legal landmines as last year's version, only this time it looks even more like the bill Sen. Ted Kennedy advocated in 1998," said Neil Trautwein, the NAM's health care lobbyist. "It's certainly not the moderate bill we had hoped would help set the tone for the health care debate this Congress.

"Small manufacturers will quickly drop health coverage rather than face a business-killing lawsuit," said Trautwein, noting that last year, Norwood authored PARCA (the Patient Access to Responsible Coverage Act), which introduced the concept of allowing employees to sue employers for health plan decisions. PARCA also was vigorously opposed by the NAM and other business organizations.

"We simply cannot support any bill that will turn our health care system into a cash cow for lawyers and government bureaucrats. The new mandates and provider protections it includes - not to mention its employer liability provisions - will send health costs through the roof and inevitably lead to greater numbers of uninsured Americans.

"This kind of litigation-happy, 'government knows best' approach to health care reform is exactly the wrong approach to take," Trautwein concluded. "Our hope is that other members of the House will see the serious shortcomings in the Access to Quality Care Act, and will not sign on as co-sponsors of this misbegotten son of PARCA and the Patients' Bill of Rights Act."

-NAM-