[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 106 (Tuesday, June 27, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H6319]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       EARLY DISCHARGE OF NEWBORNS AND MOTHERS A THREAT TO HEALTH

  (Mr. DeFAZIO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DeFAZIO. Mr. Speaker, we have all heard about drive-by-shootings. 
How about drive-through deliveries? This latest threat to the health of 
newborns and their moms comes from insurance companies and managed 
health programs. They are requiring physicians and hospitals to put 
mothers and newborns out of the hospital in as little as 12 hours. Not 
to meet the wishes of the new mother, not to foster the health of the 
newborns, not because it is best in the professional medical opinion of 
the attending physicians. These arbitrary limits have been imposed, 
possibly jeopardizing the health of the newborns and their new moms, 
only to increase the profits of the insurance companies and these for-
profit managed health care plans.
  Today the gentleman from California [Mr. Miller] and I have 
introduced legislation to restrict this growing threat to the public 
health and to our most vulnerable newborns and their mothers. I urge my 
colleagues to join us in stopping this outrageous practice.


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