H.R. 1304 Would Mean Higher Health Care Costs for Consumers, Employers and the Government
Dear Members of Congress:
We are writing to express our strong opposition to H.R. 1304, the "Quality Health-Care Coalition Act of 1999." ' As professors in law, economics and health services research, we understand the importance of competition in the health care marketplace. We are very concerned that H.R. 1304 would severely impede this competition, especially in markets for health care financing and physician services. Competition has been so important in controlling health care spending over the past decade. Further, competition has been important in providing incentives to develop innovative ways to improve health care quality and expand access to health care services.
H.R. 1304 is a radical departure from the current approach. The bill would give an antitrust exemption to physicians and other health care professionals that would allow them to engage in price-fixing and group boycotts in their negotiations with health plans. For example, all the physicians in a market could conceivably form a single cartel and demand excessive fee increases. The likely impact of H.R. 1304 would be higher health care expenditures for consumers, employers, and government-sponsored health care programs.
We urge you to vote against H.R. 1304.
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Richard J. Arnould, Ph.D. Professor and Director of the Program in |
Paul J. Feldstein, Ph.D. Professor Graduate School of Management University of California at Irvine |
Peter J. Hammer, J.D., Ph.D .Assistant Professor University of Michigan Law School |
Roger G. Noll, Ph.D. Professor of Economics Stanford University |
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Lee Benham, Ph.D. Professor of Economics Washington University, St. Louis |
H.E. Frech III, Ph.D. Professor of Economics University of California, Santa Barbara |
Clark C. Havighurst, J.D. Wm. Neal Reynolds Professor of Law Duke University |
John A. Rizzo, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Public Health Yale University |
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Bryan E. Dowd, Ph.D. Professor Division of Health Services Research and Policy University of Minnesota |
Martin Gaynor, Ph.D. E.J. Barone Professor of Economics and Carnegie Mellon University |
Emmett B. Keeler, Ph.D. Faculty Member Rand Graduate School |
Miron Stano, Ph.D. Professor of Economics and Management Oakland University |
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David Dranove, M.B.A., Ph.D. Professor of Health Services Management Northwestern University |
Allen C. Goodman, Ph.D. Department of Economics Wayne State University |
Stephen R. Latham, J.D., Ph.D. Director, Center for Health Law & Policy Quinnipiac College School of Law |
Robert J. Town, Ph.D. Assistant Professor University of California-Irvine |
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Randall P. Ellis, Ph.D. Professor of Economics Boston University |
Thomas Greaney, J.D. Professor St. Louis University School of Law |
Lee Mobley, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Economics Oakland University |
Deborah Haas-Wilson, Ph.D. Professor of Economics Director of the Public Policy Program Smith College |
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Roger Feldman, Ph.D. Professor of Public Health Boston of Minnesota |
Sherry Glied, Ph.D. Associate Professor Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health Columbia University |
Michael A. Morrisey, Ph.D. Professor University of Alabama at Birmingham |
Jack Zwanziger, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Community and University of Rochester |
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Fiona Scott Morton, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Economics and Strategy University of Chicago |
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Paid for by
The Antitrust Coalition for Consumer Choice in Health Care
A diverse group of employers, health plans, providers and others involved in the purchase, management, and delivery of health care services.