Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 23, 1995                   TAG: 9505240022
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: NEW YORK                                LENGTH: Short

HMOS TO BID ON $1 BILLION COALITION OFFER

The bidding is the employers' latest effort to push the HMOs to lower prices and let employer groups monitor the care provided by doctors and hospitals.

By banding together and offering $1 billion in combined buying power in 27 markets, the 10 employers hope to duplicate the successes of regional employer coalitions in a growing number of metropolitan areas.

Michael Sydlaske, of the William M. Mercer consulting firm, said that Wednesday was the deadline for bids from the HMOs.

The bidding is the first move by a new national health care purchasing coalition. Participants said 10 more big employers were considering joining the original 10 in the buying group.

``It could be as big as we want to make it,'' said LuAnn Cash, a vice president of American Express. Still, organizers said they want to stay relatively small to avoid conflicts that plague large coalitions.

Other participants include Sears Roebuck, IBM, ITT Corp. and Marriott International.

In a separate move, some of the employers are working on plans with other companies to negotiate with government-financed Medicare HMOs to cover their retirees.