[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 6 (Wednesday, February 4, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 PATIENT ACCESS TO RESPONSIBLE CARE ACT

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, today the National Association of 
Manufacturers is in Washington to oppose legislation that would reform 
managed care. It appears that the Republican leadership will stand with 
their special interest friends at the expense of average, middle-class 
Americans.
  Now, let us talk about what this legislation is, the Patient Access 
to Responsible Care Act. Take away that title. This is what this bill 
is about: ensuring that patients have access to specialists; making it 
easier for consumers to sue health plans for medical malpractice; and 
ensuring that medical decisions are made by doctors and not by 
insurance company bureaucrats and by allowing doctors to tell their 
patients what their options for medical treatment are and not be gagged 
by health care providers.
  Instead, the National Association of Manufacturers and the Republican 
leadership want to keep power in the hands of the insurance companies 
that are more concerned with healthy profits than with healthy 
patients.
  Mr. Speaker, I call on the Republican leadership to join Democrats in 
supporting these commonsense reforms.

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