Richman’s Bills Address Doctors’ HMO Woes

Many observers lament that successful people are hesitant to suspend their careers and dedicate themselves to public service. As someone who set aside his medical practice and is under attack for trying to end HMO abuses, I now understand why.

“Lawmaker’s Bills Would Have Benefited His Firm” (Feb. 15) fails to explain the complex ways that HMOs squeeze medical providers and deny access to quality patient care. Despite the critics’ most self-serving interpretations, AB 1600 and AB 142 provide no financial gain to me. AB 1600 creates a dispute resolution process for patients and medical providers to get regulatory relief from HMO contracts that violate state fairness laws. AB 142 would have required health plans, rather than medical groups, to pay for injectable medications, preventing the ethical dilemma that doctors might face in deciding whether to prescribe drugs that can cost up to $5,000 per dose. Moreover, the Legislature’s ethics attorney has repeatedly confirmed that there is absolutely no legal or ethical problem with my legislative involvement in these HMO reform issues.

It does not surprise me that my efforts to end HMO abuses have generated strong opposition and desperate tactics. What may surprise some is that fending off this baseless attack has strengthened this citizen legislator’s resolve and increased public support for these important reforms.

Keith S. Richman MD

State Assembly

R-Granada Hills