MANAGED CARE: FAMILIES USA REPORTS ON STATE LEGISLATION

      The health care consumer advocacy group Families USA
 released a new report today that documents the "avalanche" of
 state legislation that has been crafted over the last 18 months
 in response to consumer and provider concerns about managed care. 
 The report, "HMO Consumers at Risk:  States to the Rescue," found
 that in the first six months of 1996, 33 states enacted managed
 care consumer protection laws and more than 1,000 managed care
 regulatory bills were introduced nationwide.  "This avalanche of
 state legislation speaks volumes about the perceived need for
 managed care consumer protections.  State governments -- in all
 regions of the country, often with bi-partisan cooperation -- are
 responding to growing HMO-related complaints by consumers about
 the care they are, or are not, receiving," said Families USA
 Executive Director Ron Pollack.  
      BROAD FOCUS:  The report focused on laws in 14 key areas of
 consumer protection including: access to specialists, coverage of
 emergency services, maternity stays, "gag" clauses, availability
 of information about HMOs and others.  Over the course of the
 survey, 18 states joined New York and California in mandating
 that HMOs provide direct access to OB/GYNs and 25 states set
 maternity length-of-stay standards.  Additionally, 15 states
 passed laws prohibiting "gag" clauses in HMO provider contracts. 
 Overall, 18 states were cited by the group as "best" in at least
 one category of consumer protection and five others received
 "honorable mention" in at least one category.  Proposed
 legislation in New Jersey and recently passed legislation in New
 York were identified by Families USA as "some of the strongest
 managed care consumer protections in the nation."
      NATIONAL NEED:  Concluding that states have been "innovative
 and successful laboratories" of managed care legislation,
 Families USA called for "federal action ... to protect all
 consumers."  The group said that federal standards would help
 because "most of the managed care legislation was passed in
 response to singular concerns" like gag clauses, specialty
 access, emergency services and data reporting.  Pollack said,
 "HMO consumer protection legislation is uneven from state to
 state.  Some states have passed comprehensive bills, others have
 focused on only one or two areas of consumer concern -- and the
 result is a crazy-quilt pattern that will ultimately need more
 careful uniformity." 
      HOT OFF THE PRESSES:  Families USA is holding a press
 conference today in Washington, DC, to formally release the
 report, which is available for $15.00 by calling (202) 628-3030
 (Families USA release, 7/23).