[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 95 (Thursday, July 16, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H5640-H5641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          TIME FOR CONGRESS TO ACT ON A PATIENT PROTECTION ACT

  (Mr. WISE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WISE. Mr. Speaker, it is time for Congress to act now on a 
Patient Protection Act for managed care plans. With more people moving 
into managed care plans like HMOs, doctors and sound health care 
decisions are being replaced by insurance companies and their economic 
decisions.
  With managed care plans, patients who are giving up some choices need 
protections. That is why I support a Patient Protection Act, a Patient 
Protection Act that gives a clear right of appeal, that guarantees 
access to specialists and OB-GYNs, that provides reimbursement for 
needed emergency room visits, that holds insurance companies 
accountable for their bad decisions that they make doctors and other 
providers carry out.
  Mr. Speaker, the horror stories are growing about managed care across 
the

[[Page H5641]]

country. No, West Virginia does not have yet the same penetration of 
managed care in our population that other States do, but we are getting 
there. We are growing rapidly. So I want to make sure that we avoid 
those horror stories.
  Managed care plans can bring some benefits, but we must act now to 
make sure that all patients have a Patient Protection Act.

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