Background

HEALTH WARNING!

HOSPITAL GPO KICKBACKS ARE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH

• Incredibly, in 1986 the federal government modified the Medicare Anti-Kickback Statute to permit giant hospital group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to receive billions in kickbacks from medical suppliers. GPOs control the purchasing of $100 billion+ in goods annually for more than 5,000 hospitals.

• To compound this conflict of interest, the GPOs are paid by suppliers based on a percentage of the total contract price. As a result, the more a hospital pays for supplies, the more money the GPO makes. This inflates America’s healthcare bill by billions of dollars each year. Learn More.

• Under this pay-to-play scheme, non-clinicians decide what devices and medical supplies are used in the hospital setting. Patients and healthcare workers are therefore denied access to lifesaving, cost-effective medical devices and supplies.

• As a result of this corrupt arrangement, the rich get richer and the sick get sicker. A prize-winning New York Times investigative series revealed that GPO executives have received stock and options in companies they do business with, while patients and healthcare workers get stuck with inferior products. Learn More. And two federal audits found that untold millions in GPO revenue was not properly accounted for. Learn More.

• GPOs claim to negotiate lower prices for supplies, but government studies have found otherwise. Learn More.

ACTION NEEDED:
The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, along with federal and state agencies, are investigating these troubling practices. Learn More.

CONTACT CONGRESS TODAY to demand an end to GPO kickbacks.

• Call Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), Subcommittee chairman, at (202) 224-5653 Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), ranking member, at (202) 224-5251 and your U. S. Senators TODAY to tell them you’re sick of being denied access to quality healthcare paying sky-high medical bills because of GPO kickbacks.

• Tell them to REPEAL THE GPO ANTI-KICKBACK “SAFE HARBOR”!