[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 97 (Monday, July 20, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H5861]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    THE NEED FOR MANAGED CARE REFORM

  Mrs. CAPPS. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the patients of the Central 
Coast of California and all across America, I rise today to say that 
enough is enough. With only 36 days left in this Congress, the House 
has yet to debate and vote on real managed care reform. The leadership 
has consistently blocked efforts to bring a comprehensive HMO or health 
care reform bill to the floor, and the American people deserve better.
  Instead, this week the House will vote on partisan bills that have 
just been slapped together, and not the bipartisan patients' rights 
measures that already have significant support here in the House and 
all across this country. As a nurse, I know firsthand the importance of 
accessible, quality, patient-centered health care. Basic patients' 
rights can mean the difference between life and death.
  As I meet with constituents in my district, no matter what the 
occasion, they very often come forward to me with their concerns about 
their health care. Sometimes these are dramatic stories which make the 
news, which horrify us all. More often, though, they are individual 
instances of promises not kept, compromised outcomes, resources 
depleted, and care that is just halfway good.
  My fellow nurses tell me with great sadness in their voices how it 
hurts to deny basic health care needs; to send frail, elderly patients 
home alone, so dizzy they cannot even stand. Surely we can do better 
than this in this great Nation, with the medical resources that we have 
at our disposal.
  Before us today, before us this week, we have the opportunity to 
consider landmark legislation which will allow people to choose their 
own doctor, which will end oppressive gag rules so patients have access 
to all critical treatment options, and perhaps, most importantly, which 
will give patients legal recourse when insurance companies deny 
necessary medical coverage.
  Mr. Speaker, today I will be among the first to sign the bipartisan 
HMO reform discharge petition. This petition will allow an open debate 
on health care proposals that will enable doctors and patients to make 
essential medical decisions. If patients can sue their doctors for poor 
care, they should be able to sue the big insurance bureaucrats who pull 
the strings and are behind these cost-cutting decisions which do affect 
the quality of care.
  As one of three nurses in Congress, I feel it is my duty to speak 
out. Our health care system needs serious medicine, not a political 
placebo.
  Mr. Speaker, 230 of my colleagues, Democrats and Republicans alike, 
have already cosponsored both the Patients' Bill of Rights and the 
Patients' Access to Responsible Care Act. I strongly encourage all 230 
Members to sign this discharge petition today, so we can finally pass 
comprehensive, bipartisan managed health care reform legislation this 
year.

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