Consumers Union applauds you for your efforts to ensure that all managed care enrollees receive quality care as embodied in the Health Care Quest Act. We are particularly pleased that the Act contains some critical consumer protections to address consumers' concerns about managed care's ability to provide quality care. Specifically, we are pleased that your bill addresses consumers' need to be able to appeal to a truly independent external entity when their benefits are denied, limited, or terminated. An impartial external grievance and appeals systems is the lynchpin for all other consumer protections aimed at providing the delivery of quality care. In addition, we congratulate you on crafting a bill that establishes information disclosure requirements.
Information is critical if consumers are to make wise health care choices.
Consumers need information to help them understand alternatives for coverage, providers, and treatment options. The development of a Health Care Quality Council aimed at measuring quality is also an important source of information to consumers. In order to maximize the value of this body, we believe that the Council's mission needs to be expanded to include issues of affordability and access. To limit the council's mission to quality would restrict its influence to issues relating to people who are fortunate enough to have health care coverage. We are pleased that the consumer protections in the bill are enforceable standards that apply to all public and privately insured plans.