[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 83 (Tuesday, June 23, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H4973]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        MANAGED CARE REFORM NOW

  (Mr. GREEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GREEN. Mr. Speaker, it is time to bring managed care reform 
legislation to the floor. The quality of medical care for our citizens 
has declined considerably, and it is time to act now. Some patients are 
not getting the best medical care possible.
  Medical decisions are being made by insurance company bureaucrats, 
not by medical providers. If you are badly injured or severely ill, you 
should not have to worry about your insurance coverage. Patients should 
be able to obtain quality health care, whether or not they have 
acquired preauthorization for emergency room treatment.
  We need to focus on an anti-gag rule, which allows physicians to talk 
to their patients, an external-internal appeals process, employee 
choice of insurance, access to specialty care and decision-maker 
responsibility, which will make the managed care plan that authorizes 
or fails to authorize health care procedures, be as accountable as 
medical providers.
  Managed care is not inherently bad, but I do believe protections are 
needed immediately to protect the American people.

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