News in brief - Feb. 28, 2000

Patient protections could boost health insurance premiums

Washington -- The Congressional Budget Office estimates that premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance could increase by up to 4.1% under the House-passed managed care bill, dubbed the Patients' Bill of Rights.

Rep. Charlie Norwood, DDS (R, Ga.), a chief sponsor of the bill, said he was pleased with the CBO estimate, which was less than last year's 4.8% estimate. He said he believed the House bill, like the Texas statute on which it is modeled, would actually have no impact on premiums.

Dr. Norwood charged that the cost increases of up to 23% that the managed care industry predicted had resulted in House Republican leaders' erroneous belief that passage of his bill would result in millions of Americans losing their health insurance.

"The HMO lobby has some explaining to do with the GOP leadership," he said.

But the managed care lobby was not backing down on its strong opposition to the House bill, which would allow patients to sue their health plans under state medical malpractice laws. American Assn. of Health Plans president Karen Ignagni said a recent survey of employee benefit managers commissioned by AAHP revealed that 15 million Americans could lose their health insurance if costs went up. That scenario is likely if patients are able to sue their health plans, she said.

The National Federation of Independent Business predicts that a 4.1% increase in costs would force 720,000 small-business owners, employees and their family members to go without health insurance.

Washington -- Although more people are turning to the Internet for health information, data about disciplined doctors vary greatly, according to a study by Public Citizen's Health Research Group.

Of the 41 state medical boards that name disciplined doctors on their Web sites, just one state, Maryland, earned an "A" in the study. Maryland posts the name of the disciplined doctor, the offense committed, the action taken, a narrative of the misconduct and the full text of the board order. The group surveyed the 51 boards that regulate medical doctors in the United States; 10 states post no disciplinary action information.

"Patients deserve better," said Health Research Group Director Sidney M. Wolfe, MD. "States ought to be more thorough ... in informing consumers through the Internet about dangerous doctors. This would not only help patients, but save state medical boards the time and expense of responding to consumers' queries."

The Federation of State Medical Boards says it is wrong to rank medical boards on information available on the Internet, mainly because there are too many variables. Maintaining accurate, up-to-date information on the Internet is an enormous undertaking that requires both financial and personnel resources, said James Winn, MD, the federation's executive vice president.

Washington -- Rep. Greg Ganske, MD (R, Iowa), a leading proponent of patients' rights to sue their managed care plans for damages, has turned Republican presidential aspirant and Texas Gov. George W. Bush into an advocate for the strong House-passed patient protection bill.

Dr. Ganske sent all House members copies of a videotape of an interview in which Bush praises the Texas law that served as a model for the House bill. "This law is good for Texas. I believe this law will be a good law for America as well," Bush says in the tape.

The only difference between the Texas law and the House bill, said Dr. Ganske in an accompanying letter, is that the House bill contains more stringent protections for businesses against punitive damages if they follow the recommendation of an independent review panel. He also included a side-by-side comparison of the two legislative measures.

Dr. Ganske made his mailing just before House and Senate conferees were scheduled to begin work on a compromise measure crafted from two very different bills. Unlike the House bill, the Senate bill doesn't include a plan liability provision.