The
Quality Health Care Coalition Act Is Anti-Consumer
FOR IMMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 3, 2000
CONTACT: Carrie B. Tydings
(202) 824-1786
E-mail: ctydings@hiaa.org
The following statement was released today by Don Young, MD, Chief
Operating Officer and Medical Director of the Health Insurance Association
of America (HIAA):
The Quality Health Care Coalition Act Of 1999 (H.R. 1304) is
legislation that would be anti-consumer. It does not protect "patients'
rights" - rather, it would unlevel the playing field between providers and
consumers and result in higher health care prices.
According to a 1999 study conducted by Charles River
Associates, Incorporated, for HIAA, this bill or similar legislation could
increase annual personal health care spending by up to 7 percent - an
increase of nearly $80 billion - to be borne mostly by the private sector.
Furthermore, mechanisms already exist under which health care providers
can freely discuss quality-of-care issues with health plans, and this
legislation would be giving doctors an unprecedented "free pass" from all
regulatory authority, like the National Labor Relations Board.
This legislation would permit independently practicing doctors to form
combines that would leave consumers with less choice and higher health
care premiums.
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