"While H.R. 1304 preempts state and federal antitrust laws, it fails to establish federal requirements to replace the ‘active state supervision' requirements currently in place."

The Judiciary Committee began markup of the bill and will continue consideration next week.

Such preemption of state antitrust law leaves consumers and patients exposed to the equivalent of "OPEC for doctors."

As the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has cut oil production and increased prices, so too would doctor cartels price-fix, raising health costs for consumers, employers and federal health programs.

Because of the anticompetitive conduct that doctor cartels would wield, the Illinois Chamber of Commerce called a similar bill before the state legislature "Public Enemy Number One" in the fight to keep health insurance affordable.

"America is witnessing firsthand the effect a price-fixing cartel known as OPEC is having on sparing gasoline prices," the Illinois Chamber's president said.  "We simply cannot allow a doctor cartel to do to health care prices in Illinois what the OPEC cartel is doing to oil prices around the world.  When that happens, a few get rich at the expense of millions, and workers and their families suffer."

It's clear that H.R. 1304 would cause Americans to pay more for health care – solely by creating powerful collective bargaining units unfettered by any accountability.

The Congressional Budget Office "estimates that federal tax revenues would fall by $145 million in 2001 and by $10.9 billion over the 2001-2010 period if H.R. 1304 were enacted."

CBO also would drive up federal health program costs: "Direct spending for the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program would grow by an estimated $165 million in 2001 and by $11.3 billion over the 2001-2010 period."  Another half billion dollar increase in FEHBP discretionary spending would occur over 10 years, according to CBO.

Private health insurance expenditures would rise by 2.6 percent in 2006 should this bill become law, CBO estimates.  "In the case of employer-sponsored health plans, higher premium contributions charged to employers would be passed on to employees in the form of lower cash wages and other fringe benefits. 

Also, these higher private insurance premiums translate into adding between half a million and more than a million Americans to the ranks of the uninsured directly because of this legislation.

Added to the additional costs of managed care reform legislation, which CBO estimated at 4.1 percent for the House-passed bill, these two bills together would raise health costs 6.7 percent.  That's an additional 1.34 million to 2.7 million uninsured because of these two bills.

The House Judiciary Committee should reject H.R. 1304.  America doesn't need its own version of OPEC for health professionals.