Greg Ganske: “Let me just go back to the nitty-gritty of the bill, and that is that physicians cannot sue under this bill. The most…”

“Let me just go back to the nitty-gritty of the bill, and that is that physicians cannot sue under this bill. The most recent cost estimates by the Congressional Budget Office are six-tenths of one percent. What we are talking about is a group of physicians who do not join a labor union but are concerned about HMO practices who want to get together and tell that HMO, you know, the contract that you are giving those employees for that company where it says 'medical necessity' means the shortest, least expensive, or least intense level of care is just not right and, together as a group, we will not sign onto a health plan where you are treating one of your subscribers in that way or, for instance, when you have provisions in your contract that says first we have to phone you before we can even tell a patient about their treatment options. I mean, this affects real-life people and the ability of a physician to be an advocate for your patient. This is a lady who was profiled in Time Magazine. She had received a recommendation for treatment. She lived in California, the home State of my colleague. She had received a recommendation for treatment from her HMO. The HMO referred her to a medical center, which I will not name, and then put undue pressure on that medical center to deny her the treatment and not tell her all of her treatment options. She died because of that practice.”