[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 272 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 272

       Expressing the sense of the House on health care quality.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 6, 1998

  Mr. Armey submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
                 referred to the Committee on Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
       Expressing the sense of the House on health care quality.

    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 

SECTION 1. SENSE OF THE HOUSE ON HEALTH CARE QUALITY.

    (a) Findings.--The House makes the following findings:
            (1) Rapid changes in the health care marketplace have 
        compromised confidence in the our Nation's health system.
            (2) American consumers want more convenience, fewer 
        hassles, more choices, and better service from their health 
        insurance plans.
            (3) All Americans deserve quality-driven health care 
        supported by sound science and evidence-based medicine.
            (4) The Federal Government, through the National Institutes 
        of Health, supports research that improves the quality of 
        medical care that Americans receive.
            (5) The House is likely to consider proposals to increase 
        funding for the National Institutes of Health substantially in 
        1999.
            (6) As the largest purchaser of health care services, the 
        Federal Government has a responsibility to utilize its 
        purchasing power to demand high quality health plans and 
        providers for its health programs and to protect its 
        beneficiaries from inferior medical care.
            (7) The Federal Government must adopt the posture of 
        private sector purchasers and insist on high quality care for 
        the 67,000,000 medicare and medicaid beneficiaries and the 
        9,000,000 Federal employees, retirees, and their dependents.
            (8) The private sector has proven to be more capable of 
        keeping pace with the rapid changes in health care delivery and 
        medical practice that affect quality of care considerations 
        than the Federal Government.
            (9) As Congress considers health care legislation, it must 
        first commit to ``do no harm'' to health care quality, 
        consumers, and the evolving market place. Rushing to legislate 
        or regulate based on anecdotal information and micro-managing 
        health plans on politically popular issues will not solve the 
        problems of consumer confidence and the quality of our health 
        care system.
            (10) When health insurance premiums rise, Americans lose 
        health coverage. Studies indicate that a 1 percent increase in 
        private health insurance premiums will be associated with an 
        increase in the number of persons without insurance of about 
        400,000 persons.
            (11) Health care costs have begun to rise significantly in 
        the past year. The Congressional Budget Office (referred to as 
        ``CBO'') projects that the growth in health premiums will be 
        5.5 percent in 1998 up from 3.8 percent in 1997. CBO continues 
        to project that premiums will grow about 1 percentage point 
        faster than the Gross Domestic Product in the longer run. CBO 
        also warns that new Federal mandates on health insurance could 
        exacerbate this increase in premiums.
            (12) The President's Advisory Commission on Consumer 
        Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry developed 
        the Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities. This includes 
        information disclosure, confidentiality of health information, 
        and choice of providers.
            (13) The President's Commission further determined that 
        private sector organizations have the capacity to act in a 
        timely manner needed to keep pace with the swiftly evolving 
        health system.
    (b) Sense of the House.--It is the sense of the House that Congress 
should not pass any health care legislation that will--
            (1) make health insurance unaffordable for working families 
        and increase the number of uninsured Americans;
            (2) divert limited health care resources away from serving 
        patients to paying lawyers and hiring new bureaucrats; or
            (3) impose political considerations on clinical decisions, 
        instead of allowing such decisions to be made on the basis of 
        sound science and the best interests of patients.
                                 <all>