Report Title:

Independent Physicians

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

10

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

rejecting and URGING ALL other STATES and congress TO REJECT LEGISLATION THAT WOULD EXEMPT INDEPENDENT, COMPETInG HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS FROM ANTITRUST LAWS AND ALLOW THEM TO FORM CARTELS.

 

WHEREAS, competition benefits consumers because it results in more products and services at lower prices and of higher quality; and

WHEREAS, under current antitrust law, independent physicians are able to form legitimate joint ventures and multi-provider networks in order to collectively negotiate or actively compete with health plans; and

WHEREAS, exempting physicians from existing antitrust laws could result in such anti-competitive behavior by physicians as price-fixing, boycotts or other refusals to deal that are currently unlawful; and

WHEREAS, a physician antitrust exemption would authorize anti-competitive joint conduct by physicians that could seriously harm consumers and undermine efforts to promote high quality care and greater choice of products and services; and

WHEREAS, the United States Department of Justice has found 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 20-40%"; and

WHEREAS, higher health care costs resulting from such an exemption will be shouldered by employers and consumers and will threaten to increase the number of uninsured and reduce access to care; and

WHEREAS, the Federal Trade Commission, the United States Department of Justice and the Consumer Federation of America explicitly oppose a physician antitrust exemption for its potential harm to consumer welfare; and

WHEREAS, health plans already have a variety of mechanisms in place to allow a physician to discuss concerns about actions taken by the plan, and to contribute to efforts to improve efficiency and quality of care; and

WHEREAS, a physician antitrust exemption would give health care providers special treatment available to no other workers in the health care arena; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature of the State of Hawaii rejects and urges all other states to reject any proposal to exempt independent health care professionals from antitrust laws that could permit them to collude, form cartels, price fix, and engage in other collective activity that would otherwise be illegal, and also urges Congress not to enact legislation that provides for a similar physician antitrust exemption; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be distributed to the Governor of each state, and to the members of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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