Proponents of H.R. 1304 say that the bill prevents doctors from organizing strikes. But here are the facts:

• The bill does not prohibit doctors who are members of labor unions from organizing strikes. Such doctors have the right to strike under the National Labor Relations Act. They would retain that right under H.R. 1304. Paragraph 2(c)(1) says that the bill "shall not confer any new right to participate in any collective cessation of services to patients." Since unionized physicians already have the right to strike, they don't need H.R. 1304 to confer any new right to strike.
• The bill makes it legal for doctors to participate in boycotts. Antitrust law prohibits such boycotts. H.R. 1304 would exempt doctors from the requirements of antitrust law. Two recent cases illustrate why such boycotts are bad for patients.
  • The FTC recently broke up a cartel of surgeons practicing in Austin, Texas. The surgeons organized boycotts against Blue Cross and United Health Care. Blue Cross sought to provide surgical services through doctors who were not part of the cartel. According to a document issued by the FTC, "Blue Cross experienced difficulty in securing the services of a general surgeon for an emergency room patient," and ultimately was forced to raise the fees it paid to the cartel's doctors by nearly 30%.

• AMNews, a publication of the American Medical Association, reported on an ongoing boycott by the Federation of Physicians and Dentists against a pharmaceutical company. The AMNews article stated: