Issue Brief Summary

Free Market or "Free-for-All":
Competition, Regulation and Consumer Protections
June 10, 1998

Looks at the dynamically changing competitive health care marketplace, comprised of multiple providers, purchasers, sellers, and consumers -- each with shifting roles and responsibilities. Examines the role of government, in particular government regulators, and reviews several issues currently facing public policy makers: Should government intervene and impose reforms and regulations on this health care market, or will the health care industry responsibly "police" itself and deliver accessible, quality-based health care without escalating costs? How is a balance to be found that meets the interests and needs of health plans and insurers (who promise to voluntarily honor consumer protections) and of consumers and advocates who are calling on government to ensure these protections? Is there an as-yet-unidentified entity -- possibly a public-private partnership -- that should oversee consumer protections in health care? Reviews consumer protection bills at federal level, and state trends in regulating health plans and providers, with a table of "Prominent Regulations of Health Plans by State" (1997). [13pp]

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