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--Medical 'choice' a boon to lawyers?

Wednesday's debate over Prop. 101 sees sponsors fending off questions about uncertain wording and years of litigation if it passes.

By CYNDY COLE
Sun Staff Reporter
Friday, October 31, 2008

A physician who helped draft a measure to bar restrictions on a citizen's medical care choices in Arizona faced questions Wednesday night at NAU from local health care workers.

They asked why the proposed constitutional amendment on Tuesday's ballot, Prop. 101, wouldn't undermine Arizona's Medicaid program, local clinics, or insurance companies. Eric Novack, who helped draft the measure over the last two years and get it before voters, said Prop. 101 would be a first-in-the-country measure to guarantee that consumers could choose the health care they wanted and not be forced to participate in a government program.

He said the measure itself would do little to change health care, but would set "ground rules" not allowing insurance industries and corporations to successfully lobby for a government-required health care system in Arizona.

"There are plans out there, believe it or not, that would take away your rights to spend your own money on legal health care," Novack said.

He said the proposition was not targeting Arizona's Medicaid program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System.

His debate opponent, chief executive officer of the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association John Rivers, said the measure could open the door to allowing patients to demand any service, and any specialist, without being charged more to go outside of the network of physicians their insurance plan had created.

He predicted the measure would fail on Tuesday, but said years of litigation and uncertainty would result if it passed.

"I don't know of a person in Arizona that can sit here and tell you they know 100 percent what this measure would do," Rivers said.

Twenty-nine people attended the debate, moderated by the Paul Dutton, director of the Interdisciplinary Health Policy Institute at Northern Arizona University.

Most of those who asked questions identified themselves as health care workers, and appeared to be in opposition to the measure.

Neither debater directly answered a question about what they would do to improve the health care system overall.

Another question went to whether the measure would lead to deregulation of the insurance industry, an ability of consumers to shop across state lines, or the ability of insurance companies to deny claims.

Novack said the measure, if passed, wouldn't deregulate insurance or change contracts consumers agree to now.

Rivers disagreed.

Cyndy Cole can be reached at 913-8607 or at ccole@azdailysun.com.

Text of Prop. 101:

Because all people should have the right to make decisions about their health care, no law shall be passed that restricts a person's freedom of choice of private health care systems or private plans of any type. No law shall interfere with a person's or entity's right to pay directly for lawful medical services, nor shall any law impose a penalty or fine, of any type, for choosing to obtain or decline health care coverage or for participation in any particular health care system or plan.

Yes on Prop. 101 arguments:

The measure does only three things: ensures customers and patients have the right to private health care, have the right to pay out of pocket, and have the right not to participate in government-run health care. Insuring people have the right to make decisions about their health care should be a basic right.

No on Prop. 101 arguments:

The measure could undermine insurers' ability to charge more for doctors not in a patient's network, could undermine the state's Medicaid program, and could give patients rights to demand any specialists, and insurance companies more leeway in what to fund or not fund. Other impacts it could have are unknown, and would likely be discovered via litigation.

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