American Academy of
Orthopaedic Surgeons
American Association of
Orthopaedic Surgeons
6300 North River Road
Rosemont, Illinois
60018
P. 847.823.7186
F.
847.823.8125
www.aaos.org |
September
11, 2007
Mr. Joseph Miller
Acting Chief, Litigation I Section
Antitrust Division
United States Department of Justice
1401 H Street, NW, Suite 4000
Washington, D.C. 20530
| | Re: | United States v. Federation of Physicians and
Dentists, Case No.: l:05-CV-431, In the United States
District Court for the Southern District of Ohio
Western Division |
Dear Mr. Miller:
The following are the written comments of the American Association of
Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) to the proposed judgment in United
States v. Federation of Physicians and Dentists. The AAOS is making these
comments pursuant to the 60 day comment period provided under 15
U.S.C.§ 16(b).
The AAOS is a not-for-profit national medical society, engaged in
health policy and advocacy activities on behalf of musculoskeletal
patients and the profession of orthopaedic surgery. The 22,000
members of the AAOS are orthopaedic surgeons concerned with the
diagnosis, care, and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders. A priority
of the AAOS is continuing access to quality, specialty care by all
patients.
The AAOS is concerned that Federation of Physicians and Dentists is the
result of the antitrust laws not being applied equally to the insurance
industry as they are to physicians or other professions. This inequality
could be because the complexity of insurance industry discourages
vigorous enforcement of antitrust laws. If so, this would obviously give
the insurance industry an unfair advantage in reducing prices and
pushing more physicians out of the practice medicine. This is
particularly damaging in critical specialties facing shortages such as
obstetrics-gynecology. Uneven application of the antitrust laws,
therefore, would reduce competition in the insurance industry and,
ultimately, harm consumers.
Specifically, in this case, the physicians appeared to be reacting to anticompetitive behaviors by Cincinnati
insurers which artificially lowered prices below Medicare levels.
If you have any questions regarding these comments, please refer them to AAOS Assistant General
Counsel Grant L. Nyhammer, 847.384-4050 or nyhammer@aaos.org. Thank you for your attention to this
matter.
Cordially,
/s/
Richard N. Peterson
General Counsel
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