Are managed care regulations necessary safeguards in the age of managed care or government meddling that will raise the cost of insurance?
How the public answers that question may determine the outcome of this election-year debate."We're about to engage in the latest of our great wars of spin," said Drew Altman, president of the Kaiser Family Foundation. "This debate at this stage is still very much up for grabs."
A coalition of business groups was launching a campaign Wednesday against the politically popular consumer protections that have been offered by members of Congress across the political spectrum. The group said polling data show consumers are leery of new regulations once they learn the costs.
And Altman's group was releasing its own survey Wednesday that showed these measures are very popular with Americans, although support dips if they are told that insurance premiums will rise or employers will drop coverage.
Managed care, which tries to control costs by encouraging preventive care and eliminating unnecessary procedures, now covers 85 percent of people who get insurance from an employer. But its growth has prompted a backlash, as consumers fear quality of care is being sacrificed to save money.
Responding to those complaints, President Clinton has endorsed a consumer "bill of rights" that guarantees limited protections, including the right to a host of information about a health plan and the right to appeal denials to an outside panel.
Dismayed that Republicans are backing even stronger protections, business leaders - along with prominent Republicans Oliver North and Steve Forbes - are weighing in.
North said he was dismayed to see that at least 10 Republicans whom he campaigned for were supporting a far-reaching bill sponsored by Rep. Charles Norwood, R-Ga., and Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y. It has 218 House sponsors, including more than 90 Republicans.
It "looks like an opportunity to ensure the quality of American health care, but in truth it is only a repackaged Clinton Care, this time hiding behind a Republican face," North wrote to House Republicans on Tuesday.
With the entire House and one-third of the Senate seats at stake this fall, many say it will be hard for Republicans to reject all reform.