GOVERNMENTDoctor groups can advise on plan contracts, federal court rules in Hawaii caseCourt found no antitrust violation because discussions did not include actual dollar amounts that doctors would be paid.By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. June 30, 2003. Physicians still can count on their medical societies and other advocacy groups to comment on nonmonetary parts of health plan agreements. A three-judge panel from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 6 ruled that two health plans don't have an antitrust case against the Hawaii Medical Assn., the Hawaii Coalition for Health, Queens Physician Group and several physicians. The ruling upholds a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. "It's a very strong affirmation of the right of a medical association to sit down with insurance carriers and discuss a wide range of non-price terms that they present on a take-it-or-leave-it basis," said M. Laurence Popofsky, the California-based attorney who represented the Hawaii Medical Assn. and one of the physicians named in the lawsuit. The decision allows physician groups to breathe a sigh of relief about their abilities to advise members on complex health plan agreements. "It is important for us to be able to communicate these kinds of issues," said Rafael G. del Castillo, a Hawaii-based attorney who represented the coalition and two physicians named in the lawsuit. "The organizations ... truly were not talking about price. They were talking about other provisions." The ruling applies to physicians in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. In 2000, International Healthcare Management and Health Hawaii Network -- two Nevada-based companies that were trying to set up business in Hawaii -- sued the groups and the physicians. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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