[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 135 (Thursday, October 1, 1998)]
[House]
[Page H9190]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               HMO REFORM

  (Ms. SANCHEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Ms. SANCHEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to urge the Republican 
Congress to step up to the plate and to pass real managed care reform. 
We need to fix the health insurance system to give patients the 
protections that they need.
  After one year of ignoring the President's call for a strong, 
enforceable bipartisan Patients Bill of Rights, the Republican House 
leadership has done nothing more than pass a bill that treats cancer 
with Band-Aids.
  We ignore at our own risk what the American people demand, and they 
demand health care reform. They do not want their health plan to 
abandon them when they need it the most.
  Speaker Gingrich once promised to let Medicare wither on the vine. 
This year he is going to let the Patients Bill of Rights wither on the 
vine. I ask, will he also let Social Security wither on the vine?
  The leadership has the ability to pass legislation that protects 
Americans in the few days that we have left before adjournment. Will 
they act on behalf of millions of Americans? It is time to stop playing 
politics and pass HMO reform now.

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