[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 94 (Wednesday, July 15, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H5505-H5506]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1145
 WHY IS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY PROTECTING THE HEALTH INSURANCE COMPANIES?

  (Mr. ROTHMAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1

[[Page H5506]]

minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ROTHMAN. Mr. Speaker, I hold in my hand a series of very 
thoughtful articles from my hometown newspaper about the devastating 
effects when HMOs deny doctors and their patients the right to see 
medically needed specialists or to receive special tests.
  The problem is the Democratic Party and a handful of Republicans want 
to make HMOs accountable when they deny a specialist's care or special 
medical tests and that denial causes pain or injury or death to the 
person.
  Right now if that happens, the patient who gets sick or dies, his 
family can sue the doctor, but they cannot sue the HMO who denied the 
test or denied the procedure that would have saved the person's life. 
The Republican Party will not allow HMOs to be held accountable.
  We should ask yourselves, why? Why would the Republican party not 
allow HMOs to be sued or to be held accountable if the HMO's denial of 
a test or treatment caused the pain, injury, or death? In our society 
if somebody does something wrong to you, you can sue them. Why are they 
protecting the health insurance companies?

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