WASHINGTON, D.C. . In a display of fiscal irresponsibility, the Council of the District of Columbia has passed a bill (13-333) that will result in higher prices for health care and larger numbers of uninsured. Since the bill will do nothing to improve the quality of health care, the only benefits derived from it are more money for one of the highest paid professions in the country, physicians.

Bill 13-333 grants physicians and other health professionals a waiver from antitrust laws that forbid collective negotiation among competing providers. A study by Charles River Associates forecasts that Bill 13-333 will result in:

1. A $350 million increase in total personal health care expenditures;
2. A 4.7 to 13 percent increase in total private health insurance premiums;
3. A $19 to $105 million increase in expenditures on publicly insured residents;
4. An $11 to $64 million increase in Medicare expenditures;
5. A $5 to $31 million increase in Medicaid expenditures.

The Antitrust Coalition for Consumer Choice in Health Care includes nurses, other nonphysician providers, employers, health plans and insurers. ACCCHC has documented the negative impact of H.R. 1304, a federal bill granting physician antitrust waivers, for the past year. Now we find that the government of the District of Columbia has ignored the fiscal impact of such a bill.

The Antitrust Coalition is joined by the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice, the Consumer Federation of America, the Democratic Leadership Council, the American Legislative Exchange Council and the D.C. HMO Association in opposing legislative antitrust waivers for physicians.

Joel Klein, Assistant Attorney General in the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, has said, "Our investigations reveal that when health care professionals jointly negotiate with health insurers, without regard to antitrust laws, they typically seek to significantly increase their fees, sometimes by as much as 20 percent-40 percent."

Physician antitrust waivers hurt everyone but physicians. Bill 13-333 will create an OPEC for doctors. Skyrocketing gasoline prices may be inconvenient; skyrocketing health care prices are a matter of life and death.

The Antitrust Coalition for Consumer Choice in Health Care is a diverse group of employers, health plans, hospitals, providers, and others involved in the purchase, management and delivery of health care services. ACCCHC members are dedicated to the preservation and promotion of competition in health care markets through strong antitrust enforcement.