DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: HOSPITAL BILLS HAVE LITTLE SUPPORT

      D.C. Council member Sandy Allen (D) announced yesterday that
 "she will not introduce legislation that would have threatened"
 Tenet Healthcare Group's planned purchase of George Washington
 University Medical Center (see AHL 3/3).  Allen said that the
 bills "would have created regulatory roadblocks to the conversion
 of nonprofit hospitals into money-making companies."  However,
 she said she could not "round up enough votes for her proposal"
 to give the city the authority "to decide whether GW officials
 had negotiated a fair price for selling a controlling interest in
 GW" to Tenet.  Bob Bethea, a spokesperson for Allen, said she may
 reintroduce the bills at a later date.  WASHINGTON TIMES reports
 that Allen wants the city "to share in any profits from the deal,
 to compensate for losing a charitable institution."  
      FOLLOWING THE TREND:  TIMES reports that Allen's bills
 reflect "a national debate over how local governments should
 regulate consolidation in the health care industry driven by
 profit making companies."  California and New York, along with
 other states, have given their attorneys general the authority to
 review such mergers (Goldreich, 3/4).