Study Counters HMO Warning on ‘Rights’ Bill

Contrary to the claims of most managed care companies and employers, many of the new protections being sought by health care consumers and their congressional allies would only slightly increase the price of health insurance, according to a detailed study by a major accounting firm.

The study, compiled by Coopers & Lybrand for the Kaiser Family Foundation, estimates that four of the major “patients’ rights” provisions contained in pending legislation would increase the cost of a typical family policy by only $31 a year.

The study appears to throw cold water on broad claims by managed care firms and employers that any new patient protections would prove too expensive and result in hundreds of thousands of people losing their insurance.

“These estimates are modest and they are at least in the neighborhood of what people would be supportive of,” said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit group that does health policy research.

The report is one of many in the debate over bills that aim to protect patients’ rights. Estimates from other studies have ranged from 1% increases in the cost of health insurance premiums to a 39% jump.

The Coopers & Lybrand researchers said that one reason they estimated the costs would be relatively low for several of the bills is that a number of health insurance plans already comply with the provisions Congress may require.

President Clinton welcomed news of the report, which found that the cost of the patient bill of rights he endorsed in November would raise premium costs by less than 2%. “There is no excuse left for inaction,” he said.

Representatives of health plans and employer groups, however, said they simply do not believe the estimates. And they fear that if legislation reaches the full House or Senate, other provisions that are politically popular but potentially expensive would be added.

“The bill of rights represents good goals,” said Susan Pisano, a spokeswoman for the American Assn. of Health Plans. “The question becomes does it require legislative intervention to have it happen.”