[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 96 (Friday, July 17, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H5742]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MANAGED CARE REFORM

  (Mr. DAVIS of Illinois asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join with my 
colleagues today to underscore the need and the importance for real 
managed care reform. Today in America, insurance companies are making 
life-threatening decisions regarding patient care. Those same insurance 
companies that denied medical procedures and treatment are immune from 
suit.
  The horror stories are all too familiar: John, a middle-aged man in 
need of a liver transplant, his doctor contacts the HMO, and the 
bureaucrats decline coverage. John appeals, and by the time he works 
his way through a time-consuming process and the HMO agrees to pay, he 
is too sick to receive the transplant and dies.
  The health care choices must be made by patients and their 
physicians, not the insurance companies. The Democratic Patient's Bill 
of Rights is a plan that puts people ahead of politics. It holds 
managed care corporations and companies responsible.
  Let us do real reform. Let us do the Democratic reform.

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