FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: Suzy DeFrancis (202) 973-3610 Renae Newmiller
(202) 973-1376
NORWOOD’S SEQUEL – THE MANDATE MENACE
Physicians Produce Phantom Bill Under the Guise of Patient
Protection
Not so long ago, in a Congress not so far away, Charlie
Norwood introduced health care legislation that would raise the cost of
health insurance. Today, he has returned with the same legislation in
hand.
Washington, DC, May 18, 1999 – Representative Charlie Norwood
(R-GA) has joined forces with fellow physician Representative Tom Coburn
(R-OK) and Representative John Shadegg (R-AZ) in his on-going quest to
revive his failed managed health care mandate bill. Unfortunately, his
latest sequel – the Consensus Managed Care Improvement Act – is more like
a rerun, proving just as menacing as earlier attempts with the same
troubling outcome of higher health care costs and millions more uninsured.
In the name of patient protection, the Norwood-Coburn-Shadegg bill will
ultimately leave patients unprotected. Similar to the Kennedy-Dingell
bill, this legislation is full of big government mandates that will drive
up costs and the number of uninsured.
"Norwood’s sequel gets two thumbs down," stated Dan Danner, chairman of
the Health Benefits Coalition. "It contains nearly all of the same costly
provisions that Congressman Norwood has been trying to repackage for over
a year now. Rather than offer a true alternative, the
Norwood-Coburn-Shadegg bill punishes and burdens employers who voluntarily
provide health coverage and the millions of Americans who receive it."
One of the most alarming provisions contained in the
Norwood-Coburn-Shadegg bill is the liability provision. Representatives
Norwood, Coburn and Shadegg claim that their bill includes safe harbors to
protect businesses. But the only way employers can escape liability under
this bill is to give up any responsibility for benefit decisions affecting
their employees. Even if this bill could effectively shelter employers
from lawsuits and direct liability – which this bill does not – the costs
of expanded liability would still be passed on to employers, employees and
their families. With premiums already on the rise, the additional costs of
liability would force many employers to drop coverage entirely.
The Health Benefits Coalition urges Congress to oppose Norwood’s latest
bill, as well as any legislation that increases costs and decreases
coverage for hard working American families.
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The Health Benefits Coalition is a broad-based organization
representing three million employers providing health care coverage to
more than 100 million employees and families. The coalition believes
affordable, quality health care is best achieved through broader coverage,
choice and competition in the marketplace -not government
mandates.
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