Doctors'
Unions Deserve Healthy Skepticism
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 1999
CONTACT: Richard Coorsh
(202) 824-1787
rcoorsh@hiaa.org
The following statement was released today by Chip Kahn, President of
the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA):
Doctors’ claims that they need to be able to form unions to improve the
quality of health care and assure patients’ safety must be met with a dose
of healthy skepticism. Patients want doctors in their offices and
hospitals caring for the sick, not carrying picket signs on street
corners. How will the threat of work stoppages and wildcat strikes improve
quality of care to patients?
If doctors are allowed to unionize, consumers will have to look out for
the union label. Already, doctors are among the nation’s highest paid
profession, and their incomes have increased 77 percent over the last
decade. Allowing doctors antitrust exemptions, such as those contained in
Rep. Campbell's bill, would result in collusion on prices, and that
collusion will lead to higher health care costs and higher health
insurance premiums for consumers.
To improve quality, doctors should focus on improving health outcomes
instead of running to Congress for protections against the marketplace.
###
Consumer Information | Insurance Education | Publications
Copyright © 1999 Health Insurance Association of America