[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 137 (Saturday, September 28, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1800]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             ANTITRUST HEALTH CARE ADVANCEMENT ACT OF 1996

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                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 27, 1996

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 2925, the Antitrust 
Health Care Advancement Act of 1996, which would ensure that the 
antitrust laws permit full utilization of private cooperative 
initiatives and help make the Nation's health care system more 
efficient. H.R. 2925 provides that when doctors, nurses, and hospitals 
form integrated joint ventures to offer health care services, their 
conduct will be reviewed on the basis of its reasonableness--the rule 
of reason test--for compliance under antitrust laws. The measure would 
provide more choices for consumers while allowing for greater 
competition in the marketplace.
  Health care provider networks [HCPN's] comprised of doctors, 
hospitals and other entities which provide health care services--can 
produce increased competition for health care services. Their formation 
can lead to lower costs while providing a high quality of care. 
Physicians and other health care professionals are more than qualified 
to strike the proper balance between conserving costs and meeting the 
needs of the patient.
  Current antitrust laws, however, hinder the formation of HCPN's by 
prohibiting them to engage in joint pricing agreements. H.R. 2925 would 
eliminate this obstacle by conforming agency enforcement practices to 
the manner in which courts have interpreted the law.
  Antitrust law states that agreements among competitors that fix 
prices or allocate markets are per se illegal. Where competitors unite 
in a joint venture, however, agreements or prices or other terms of 
competition are not generally unlawful. Price setting conduct by these 
joint ventures should be evaluated under the rule of reason, that is, 
on the basis of reasonableness, by considering all relevant factors 
that may affect competition.
  H.R. 2925 addresses these concerns by applying the rule of reason 
test to HCPN's. Enactment of this measure would lead to increased 
competition, greater choice of services, and the delivery of quality 
health care at a lower price.
  While I urge the House to consider H.R. 2925 before the end of the 
session, I am encouraged by new guidelines recently released by the 
Department of Justice which state that the rule of reason test will now 
be applied to HCPN's. While I would still like to see H.R. 2925 enacted 
into law, I believe that the new guidelines are a major step towards 
the recognition of HCPN's as viable entities in the health care field 
and I commend the Justice Department for its decision.

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