[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 95 (Thursday, July 16, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H5638-H5639]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             AMERICA NEEDS REAL MANAGED HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (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, you were correct in saying that the people in 
the gallery cannot express their opinion for or against those of us who 
speak on the floor. They have to wait until November to give their 
opinion on it. That is why I am here to say that I am disappointed to 
see that after 6 months of debating managed health care, we now see a 
weak version introduced by the Republican leadership.

[[Page H5639]]

  The proposal falls short of addressing the health care needs of the 
American people. It is clear that the concerns of the American people 
are being ignored again.
  The proposal that has been introduced is a fake and (it is) a sham. 
Real managed care should guarantee a fast appeals process, patient 
access to specialists, coverage for emergency services without having 
to call in first, patient choice of plans at their own expense, and 
also make the people who make those irresponsible medical decisions 
accountable for those decisions.
  That is why the American people in November are going to make that 
decision, and not necessarily in the gallery of the House today. We 
need real managed care reform. We need to hold insurance companies 
accountable for their decision-making, just like we held welfare 
mothers accountable during the welfare reform bill.

                          ____________________