CLINTON BACKS LIFTING GAG RULES.

Byline: Associated Press 

President Clinton has joined the fight against health network rules that prevent doctors from telling patients about costly care options.

Moving one step at a time on the health care overhaul he failed to achieve in one swoop, Clinton has endorsed legislation that would stop HMOs from inhibiting their doctors with so-called gag rules.

Health maintenance organizations say they support open communication on matters of treatment, and prohibitions on discussing financial and other matters have been misrepresented as gag orders.

But Clinton, speaking to an elderly campaign crowd in Florida on Friday, used the issue to portray himself as a guardian of patient rights in the fast-growing field of HMOs, backing legislation patterned after laws enacted this year in 16 states.

The president's call also echoed provisions of California Propositions 214 and 216, which will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot. HMO organizations have opposed both initiatives in a heavy advertising campaign.

The American Association of Health Plans, representing more than 1,000 managed-care networks, says Clinton's anti-gag proposal would ``turn back the clock on . . . high quality, more affordable health care systems'' by regulating contracts between doctors and their plans.

Some of those contracts leave gray areas in doctor-patient communications. They commonly ban talk of proprietary or reimbursement information that can be hard to separate from important guidance on a patient's treatment.