Issues involving managed care quality and consumer protection are at the top of his Hit Parade. Also on the Senate side, secretary of defense nominee William Cohen, Republican of Maine, will be replaced by Iowa Republican Charles Grassley at the Special Oversight Committee on Aging. Leadership of the House health care committees remains the same, although New York Democrat Charles Rangel will step in as the ranking minority member on Ways and Means, succeeding Florida Democrat Sam Gibbons. A bipartisan commission will be appointed to thrash out long-term problems. The AMA has already weighed in with a dusted-off Medicare proposal that would not only protect physician fees, but allow them to rise up to 7 percent a year with inflation.
Kids are hot.
On cue, the Health Insurance Association of America plans to oppose it on the grounds that such private arrangements weaken the employer paradigm. Medigap buyers nixed for pre-existing conditions might also find friends in Congress this time around. Drive-through procedures aren't winning health care companies any friends on the Hill. Watch for more micromanagement of the industry. Also kicking around is the idea of delaying premium payments to HMOs until the initial meeting between the patient and the primary care physician.