More on the Tom Price war on healthcare

NY Times - Under the [Tom Price] legislation, it would be easier for doctors to enter into private contracts with Medicare beneficiaries. Such contracts allow physicians to opt out of Medicare’s strictures and charge more than the amounts normally allowed.

The bill would eliminate the federal health insurance exchange, through which millions of people have obtained subsidies for the purchase of insurance coverage. States could contract with private entities to set up websites that resemble HealthCare.gov, but only to provide information on insurance plans’ prices and benefits and their networks of doctors and hospitals. The new websites could not directly enroll people in private plans or in Medicaid.

His bill says that doctors would generally be “exempt from the federal antitrust laws” when they engage in contract negotiations with health insurance plans over the terms of their service. In many cases over the years, the federal government has accused doctors of violating antitrust laws in their dealings with insurers.