It seems to us we've heard that song somewhere before. If you're awaiting payment, and Oxford remits without interest, let us know. Doctors who participate in Oxford should drop it like the hot potato it is. They want the right to collectively negotiate fees with HMOs and other health insurers and implement group boycotts when carriers turn deaf ears to their reasonable demands. But they cannot take concerted action unless they are bona fide employees in a bona fide employee organization.
Any organization can call itself a union.
However, there's a big difference between affixing a label on a physician association and meeting exemption standards under state and federal antitrust regulations. Without an employer, there are no employees. It never came to pass. This doesn't mean that physicians are helpless against the powerful managed care industry. It does mean that doctors must take different steps to achieve their goals lawfully.