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| Banning Hospital Competition Hurts Health Care
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May 12, 2005
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, and its ranking member Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) yesterday introduced a bill to make permanent a ban on further development of specialty hospitals. Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council) President and CEO Karen Kerrigan issued the following statement:
"The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council believes that the Grassley and Baucus bill, which essentially bans any further development of physician-owned specialty hospitals, would rob patients of choice and from receiving the high quality, efficient care that these innovative hospitals provide.
"Specialty hospitals provide competition in the hospital industry, forcing existing hospitals to improve their operations and patient care.
"We are proud to count physician owners and investors of specialty hospitals among our diverse members. These entrepreneurial physician owners are working hard to take health-care delivery in a positive and refreshing direction. Their risk-taking and innovation should be applauded and admired. From my perspective, an extension of the moratorium would be an act of protectionism that stifles much needed progress, competition and innovation.
"Congress should make sure choice and competition prevail over special interests when it comes to our nation's health care. These interests have made numerous, inaccurate accusations regarding specialty hospitals. The SBE Council disagrees with the Grassley/Baucus approach, and we will urge Congress to reject it."
The SBE Council is a national advocacy organization that has worked to protect small business and promote entrepreneurship for more than a decade. For more information, please visit http://www.sbecouncil.org/
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