| Tuesday, July 18, 2000 The Honorable John Warner 225 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510-4601 Dear Senator Warner, I am writing to express my strong opposition to H.R. 1304, the physician collective bargaining legislation that passed the U.S. House of Representatives on June 29. I do not want to see similar legislation introduced or considered in the Senate. This legislation would result in higher health care costs to consumers, and do little to benefit the health care system or improve quality of care. According to a recent study, a physician antitrust exemption would impose higher costs on consumers by as much as 8.6 percent. Health care professionals already have full freedom, even without an antitrust exemption, to work with each other to try to improve the delivery of health care services for consumers. In fact, FTC guidelines permit physicians and other health care professionals to form networks and other legitimate joint ventures to try to improve health care quality. I urge you to oppose all efforts in the Senate that would grant competing physicians and other health care professionals a broad antitrust exemption. Thank you for considering my views on this important issue. Sincerely, Joe Activist 1234 Main Street Alexandria, Va 22314 |