ANTITRUST COALITION FOR CONSUMER CHOICE IN HEALTH CARE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jim Edwards 202-452-8300
June 29, 2000
Antitrust Coalition Statement on House Passage of the Campbell Antitrust Bill
(Washington, D.C.) – The Antitrust Coalition for Consumer Choice in Health Care is disappointed that the House of Representatives has passed H.R. 1304, the "OPEC for Doctors" bill.
This legislation means a direct transfer of money from consumers’ and taxpayers’ pockets to doctors’ bank accounts. H.R. 1304 seeks to blow a hole in the antitrust laws that promote competition and protect consumers, starting a flood of anticompetitive behavior that harms consumers.
Legalizing doctor cartels and freeing them to price-fix and boycott will only harm consumers – through higher health costs, possible loss of coverage, less consumer choice, lower quality and less innovation.
Such a strong push for this doctor cartel bill can mean nothing less than a powerful special interest putting its own economic self-interest ahead of the interests of patients and consumers. The coalition now looks to the Senate to stop this anti-consumer legislation.
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