[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 96 (Friday, July 17, 1998)]
[House]
[Pages H5742-H5743]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 AMERICA NEEDS PATIENT'S BILL OF RIGHTS

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, yesterday Families USA released a report 
about State-managed care reform laws around the country. The report is 
entitled ``Hit and Miss,'' because, as the report clearly states, 
``Unfortunately, for

[[Page H5743]]

consumers who are in need of protection, State laws are more misses 
than hits: managed care consumers still cannot count on basic 
protections.''
  This report is only the latest in a growing body of evidence that 
proves what the American people already know, that we need a national 
Patients Protection Act. We need to ensure that doctors and patients, 
and not insurance company bureaucrats, are making the critical health 
care decisions, that patients have the right to go to the emergency 
room, that women can gain direct access to an obstetrician or 
gynecologist, and that health plans are held accountable when they deny 
patients care.
  The only plan that ensures these basic protections is the Democratic 
Patient's Bill of Rights.
  I urge the Republican leadership, schedule a vote today on the 
Dingell-Kennedy Patients Protection Act.

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