John Shadegg: “this bill is clearly well-intended. It attempts to address an imbalance that exists because HMOs are too powerful. I…”

“this bill is clearly well-intended. It attempts to address an imbalance that exists because HMOs are too powerful. I have many HMOs in my State of Arizona. Indeed, more HMOs percentage-wise than perhaps any State in the Nation, and I have fought HMOs and I will continue to fight them through the fight on the Patients' Bill of Rights. But this bill is tragically misguided. The discussion we have heard here tonight has been about the power of HMOs and the lack of power of doctors. The reality is that there is an omitted party. The omitted party is the patients. If we empower doctors to unionize, there will be one thing that will happen, mark my words. The cost of health care will go up. I love doctors, and they will try to protect patients, but their number one motivation will be to negotiate increased fees for them. The cost of care will go up, and patients will not be protected. Many of us on the Patients' Bill of Rights Task Force, many of my colleagues on the other side who fought for patients' rights and this side who fought for patients' rights have fought this battle. We need to empower patients by giving them choice, not unionizing doctors and causing prices to go up.”