[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 124 (Thursday, September 17, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H7927]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          MANAGED 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, while we know there are lots of other issues 
swirling around the Capitol these days, I think it is important that we 
focus on other issues that really affect the American people. Last 
week, the Tuesday before we came back into session, four Members of 
Congress from the Houston area met with over 100 people to discuss an 
important issue that is facing the American public. That public meeting 
was about managed care reform and the Republican majority's misnamed 
bill that we passed earlier this year, the Patient Protection Act. This 
was the first public hearing held on the bill since our committee that 
I serve on did not have any hearings on the bill that passed this 
House. That hearing confirmed what we have been saying for months, that 
families in managed care want and need some reform this year. They do 
not want a sham bill like the Patient Protection Act that does more for 
insurance companies than patients and they do not want a bill that 
actually preempts Texas law that was passed by our legislature last 
year. They want a patients' bill of rights that is not right because it 
is a Democratic bill but because it contains meaningful reforms to 
complement the State laws that are passed.
  Eliminate the gag rules, provide choice and also allow people to go 
to adequate emergency rooms without having to call their insurance 
company first.

                          ____________________