We support the presidents Patients' Bill of Rights. The insurance companies oppose it. So does the for-profit managed care industry, including HMOs. I testified in Congress before the House Judiciary Committee in support of Rep. Tom Campbell's bill, HR 1304, to provide antitrust relief for physicians. The insurance companies were against that, too They said that it would be wrong for physicians' groups to have the same rights insurance companies have.
Insurance companies are exempt from antitrust regulations and want to keep it that way.
Insurance company lobbyists tell Congress that allowing physicians to negotiate would raise premiums. These lobbyists don't mention health care executives whose exorbitant profits fleece patients out of promised care. This largess is made at the expense of patients who are denied consultations, diagnostic procedures, operations - anything that interferes with the purchase of the next corporate jet. Doctors' unions and consumer groups will redirect these millions to actual health care. Physicians need to negotiate for the right to care for patients as their education and training dictates.