Congress is considering three main pieces of legislation that would increase government regulation of managed care: a bill by the Senate Republican leadership; one by the House Republican leadership; and a Democratic leadership bill – resembling a White House proposal – that has been introduced in both chambers.

All three measures would require health plans to pay for more emergency room visits, forbid plans to "gag" doctors from discussing expensive treatments with their patients, allow patients to visit obstetricians and pediatricians without prior approval, and – with some variations – strengthen patients' ability to appeal denials of care or payment to their insurer and outside grievance boards. The Senate bill, though, would extend some of these protections to substantially fewer Americans than the other versions.