[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 136 (Friday, October 2, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11325-S11327]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, we are reaching the final days of this 
Congress, and the leadership is deciding about which measures the 
Senate is going to consider during these final few days.
  As I mentioned previously, we have identified a number of different 
pieces of legislation that I don't believe, and I don't think the 
American people believe rise up in importance as to protecting the 
families of this country with the kinds of protections that we would 
have with our Patients' Bill of Rights. But, we have been unable to 
have this legislation up before the Senate, to have it debated and 
discussed, and to have a resolution by this body in a timely way.
  As I have mentioned on other occasions, it is Friday afternoon at 2 
o'clock and most Americans are still working. The Senate should be, on 
an issue of this importance, still here and debating these issues and 
resolving these matters in ways which I think, with a full debate and 
an open discussion, resolve these matters in favor of the families, in 
favor of the patients, in favor of this country.
  It is a very basic and fundamental issue--whether we are going to 
have the medical professionals--the doctors and nurses--make the 
ultimate judgment in terms of health care, or whether those decisions 
are going to be made by the HMOs, the insurance companies, and their 
accountants.
  For all Americans who are participating in these HMOs, they have paid 
the premiums and they expect their medical treatment will be decided by 
medical professionals, and not accountants in the insurance industry.
  I doubt very much whether these HMOs--when they are out recruiting 
new members to join and pay their premiums from their hard-earned money 
which they work for every single day--are saying, ``Well, we want you 
to know that the people who are going to be making decisions about your 
health care are going to be the accountants, and not the doctors we are 
referencing in our pamphlets.''
  Mr. President, this morning in the Wall Street Journal on the front 
page there was a rather ominous report. This is from this morning, 
Friday, October 2nd, on the front page of the Wall Street Journal: 
``Politicians seek to profit from the debate over health-care 
policies.''
  This is the debate--the one issue--that is before the U.S. Senate, 
the Patients' Bill of Rights. There are other health care issues. But 
this is the health care issue that commands the wide-range support of 
over 180 different organizations reflecting all of the various medical 
professionals--all the

[[Page S11326]]

nurses, all the cancer patient organizations, all of the children's 
organizations, all of the disability organizations, and all of the 
women organizations. They have all virtually embraced and endorsed this 
health care debate that we have been trying to have. The debate has 
been rather one-sided since we have not been able to have engagement 
from the other side on this issue.
  We have the Wall Street Journal saying the following. This is an 
exact quote:

       The GOP's congressional campaign committee invites a 
     ``select group'' of health-care-industry leaders to a meeting 
     Tuesday on the issue. The ticket price: $25,000 each.''

  $25,000 each.

       The meeting ``will last one hour'' only, says an invitation 
     signed by Illinois Representative Hastert and California 
     Representative Thomas. That would exceed $400 a minute per 
     person for the fundraiser.

  These are the two leading Republican House Members that have been 
opposed to the Patients' Bill of Rights. Evidently, Mr. President, we 
have been unable to get this measure before the Senate of the United 
States--we find that because of the fact that the legislation has been 
shelved, pigeonholed, the result is that our Republican friends are 
having a ``select group'' of health care industry leaders who will pay 
$25,000 to go to a meeting.
  Mr. President, let us look at the most recent report of last month, a 
new study by Common Cause, which I saw this morning. I asked my staff 
to get the most recent study by Common Cause about contributions to the 
Republican National Committee by this industry. They reported that the 
industry which gave the most soft money to the Republicans of any group 
was the insurance industry.
  It is very interesting that here we have the industry paying $25,000 
each for each of their personnel to go to a fundraiser with people who 
have been effectively there to sidetrack this legislation. Then, when 
we look back, we find out the insurance industry has opened up its 
coffers to the party that is keeping us from debating this and 
resolving this in the U.S. Senate.
  That is what is happening. The American people do not understand 
that. If they don't understand very much, they understand this: That 
Common Cause reported that in the first 6 months of this year they gave 
$5.5 million. This is where they have contributed.
  I daresay we will find out as we move on through, month by month, and 
then at the end of the year the reports will come in after the election 
about what they have done in terms of the various candidates.
  This is what we are faced with on the one hand. This is what we are 
faced with: Big money and powerful special interests denying the 
opportunity for the interests of these various organizations and the 
people they represent--not just Members of the U.S. Senate who favor 
this position but those who are really the constituencies of these 
organizations. We are talking about the Children's Legal Defense Fund 
that has represented the interests of the children. We are talking 
about the range of different groups that have been representing the 
disabled. We are talking about the medical societies representing the 
doctors and nurses societies--denying those particular interests the 
opportunity for debate on this legislation.
  Mr. President, earlier today we heard some very moving testimony. It 
has been typical of the testimony that we have been hearing over the 
period of recent weeks and months.
  This is by Mr. A.G. Newmyer of The Epilepsy Foundation.
  I will include the statements in their entirety. Mr. President, I ask 
unanimous consent that they be printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

Statement by A.G. Newmyer III, the Epilepsy Foundation, October 2, 1998

       Good morning. My name is Newmyer and I'm here on behalf of 
     the 2.5 million Americans who have seizure disorders, and 
     their families. Some of these folks are well known to you--
     former Congressman Tony Coelho, Representative Neil 
     Abercrombie, Congressman Hoyer's late wife. Others are total 
     strangers--like me. And a couple hundred people on the Hill 
     either have epilepsy or someone in their family does, but you 
     don't know about it because stigma and fear keep these folks 
     in the closet.
       The Epilepsy Foundation urges passage of strong patients' 
     rights legislation. Today's health insurance system is a 
     mean-spirited, predatory mess. But it's far worse for people 
     with special medical needs.
       Those of you who cover this debate may recall that Tracy 
     Buccholz from MN was the first public witness before the 
     President's commission on health care. Tracy has epilepsy and 
     led a rather normal life until her health plan started 
     playing games with her life. She explained to the commission, 
     when she came to Washington to testify, that she had been 
     waiting eight months for permission to see her neurologist, 
     despite the literature and promises of her plan.
       I'd like to make three brief points this morning:
       First, the member satisfaction statistics are pure 
     nonsense. If I asked each of you how you like your life 
     insurance, you'd think I was nuts. You'd tell me that you 
     think it's fine--you never had to use it. The same thing's 
     true for the 80 percent of Americans who have no significant 
     medical need in any one year. I urge the press to focus on 
     satisfaction among plan participants who have faced a serious 
     medical need.
       Second, to those members who say they don't want to 
     interfere in the insurance market, let's be serious. The user 
     isn't the customer. Most patients get insurance at work and 
     have very little choice. When the person making the purchase 
     decision isn't the user of the service, it's not a market. 
     It's an anomaly. And it needs to be fixed. Now.
       Finally, I know of no other segment of our society where 
     some people elect to engage in predatory behavior knowing 
     that the victims can't go to court. No patients want more 
     lawsuits. Patients want health plans to stop horsing around. 
     Patients want to fix a system where some people prosper by 
     denying care. The key is ERISA reform, which is why it's 
     being fought so hard by for-profit managed care plans.
       I leave you with this thought. Steve Wiggins, CEO of 
     Oxford, made $29 million before he was fired. Last year, with 
     his company \1/2\ way down the toilet, he left with $9 
     million in severance. The CEO of Aetna-United took home 
     $17,693,000 during the past three years.
       Do you really think those plans can't afford for people 
     with seizures to have easy access to decent care?
                                  ____


           Don't Let the Clock Run Out on Patient Protections

    (Statement By Debra L. Ness, Executive Vice President National 
                   Partnership for Women & Families)

       Good morning. My name is Debra Ness, and I am executive 
     vice president of the National Partnership for Women & 
     Families. I'm here today on behalf of the leadership 
     organizations working for passage of the Patients' Bill of 
     Rights Act, S. 1890. More than 180 groups--representing 
     patients, doctors, nurses, other health care professionals, 
     women, children, people with disabilities, small businesses 
     and people of faith--support this Patients' Bill of Rights, 
     and I am here to say to Congress: don't let the clock run out 
     on patient protections! Americans deserve better from their 
     elected officials!
       Today, we are sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader 
     Trent Lott, demanding that the Senate fulfill its 
     responsibility to represent the people's interest. We need a 
     full and fair debate on the Patients' Bill of Rights Act 
     before the end of this session. Every day Congress delays, 
     patients suffer:
       Imagine your father being sick, and watching helplessly as 
     his insurance company overrules his doctor about what 
     treatment is best for him.
       And yet . . . Congress delays.
       Imagine your wife being told she can't participate in a 
     clinical trial that might be the only opportunity to save her 
     life.
       And yet . . . Congress delays.
       Imagine your child becoming permanently disabled because 
     your insurance company wouldn't let you go to the nearest 
     emergency room.
       And yet . . . Congress delays.
       Imagine the chronic disease you have managed for years 
     suddenly going awry because your cost-conscious health plan 
     refused to let you continue using the medication that helped 
     stabilize your condition.
       And yet . . . Congress delays.
       We've talked with women around the country who told us with 
     great passion how they believe the health care industry has 
     abandoned patients for profits. Single women, mothers, 
     grandmothers; corporate executives and Medicaid recipients; 
     Democrats and Republicans, African-Americans, whites, Asians, 
     Hispanics. The consistency of their concerns was 
     extraordinary. And it is clear that women do not trust the 
     industry to fix itself. They desperately want health plans to 
     provide quality care, and they are convinced that government 
     must play a role in setting quality standards.
       And yet . . . Congress delays.
       Just one bill responds to these legitimate and deep-felt 
     concerns, and that is S. 1890, the Patients' Bill of Rights 
     Act. It is the only bill that gives patients real 
     protections, not phony substitutes. Unfortunately, the House 
     has already passed a sham proposal that would actually 
     reverse what little progress has been made so far. But the 
     Senate has an opportunity--and an obligation to Americans--to 
     enact meaningful patient protections by passing S. 1890, the 
     Patients' Bill of Rights Act.
       The Senate has three choices:

[[Page S11327]]

       (1) It can do nothing and ignore the will of the people;
       (2) It can deliver a bill that pretends to solve managed 
     care's problems; or
       (3) It can deliver the real Patients' Bill of Rights.
       There is only one right choice, and there's absolutely no 
     excuse for the U.S. Senate to get it wrong.

  Mr. KENNEDY. Let me highlight what we heard this morning.

       Good morning. My name is Newmyer and I'm here on behalf of 
     the 2.5 million Americans who have seizure disorders, and 
     their families. Some of these folks are well known to you--
     former Congressman Tony Coelho, Representative Neil 
     Abercrombie, Congressman Hoyer's late wife. Others are total 
     strangers--like me. And a couple hundred people on the Hill 
     either have epilepsy or someone in their family does, but you 
     don't know about it because stigma and fear keep these folks 
     in the closet.
       The Epilepsy Foundation urges passage of strong patients' 
     rights legislation. Today's health insurance system is a 
     mean-spirited, predatory mess. But it's far worse for people 
     with special medical needs.
       Those of you who cover this debate may recall that Tracy 
     Buccholz from MN was the first public witness before the 
     President's commission on health care. Tracy has epilepsy and 
     led a rather normal life until her health plan started 
     playing games with her life. She explained to the commission, 
     when she came to Washington to testify, that she had been 
     waiting eight months for permission to see her neurologist, 
     because the literature and promises of her plan.
       I'd like to make three brief points this morning.
       First, the member satisfaction statistics are pure 
     nonsense. If I asked each of you how you like your life 
     insurance, you'd think I was nuts. You'd tell me that you 
     think it's fine--you never had to use it. The same thing's 
     true for the 80% of Americans who have no significant medical 
     need in any one year. I urge the press to focus on 
     satisfaction among plan participants who have faced a serious 
     medical need.

  That is important, Mr. President.

       Second, to those members who say they don't want to 
     interfere in the insurance market, let's be serious. The user 
     isn't the customer. Most patients get insurance at work and 
     have very little choice. When the person making the purchase 
     decision isn't the user of the service, it's not a market. 
     It's an anomaly. And it needs to be fixed. Now.

  That is a very important point, Mr. President.

       Finally, I know of no other segment of our society where 
     some people elect to engage in predatory behavior knowing 
     that the victims can't go to court. No patients want more 
     lawsuits. Patients want health plans to stop horsing around. 
     Patients want to fix a system where some people prosper by 
     denying care. The key is ERISA reform, which is why it's 
     being fought so hard by for-profit managed care plans.
       Do you really think these plans can't afford for people 
     with seizures to have easy access to decent care?

  That is very moving, Mr. President, and clearly all of the 
organizations want us to debate and resolve these issues, because every 
single day they know that the lives of their members, like other 
Americans' lives, are being threatened by the abuses in the HMO system.
  Finally, Mr. President, there is Debra Ness, executive vice president 
of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

       We need a full and fair debate on the Patients' Bill of 
     Rights Act before the end of this session. Every day Congress 
     delays, patients suffer:
       Imagine your father being sick, and watching helplessly as 
     his insurance company overrules his doctor about what 
     treatment is best for him.
       And yet . . . Congress delays.
       Imagine your wife being told she can't participate in a 
     clinical trial that might be the only opportunity to save her 
     life.
       And yet . . . Congress delays.
       Imagine your child becoming permanently disabled because 
     your insurance company wouldn't let you go to the nearest 
     emergency room.
       And yet . . . Congress delays.
       Imagine the chronic disease you have managed for years 
     suddenly going awry because your cost-conscious health plan 
     refused to let you continue using the medication that helped 
     stabilize your condition. [This happens, Mr. President. This 
     happens.]
       And yet . . . Congress delays.
       We've talked with women around the country who told us with 
     great passion how they believe the health care industry has 
     abandoned patients for profits. They desperately want health 
     plans to provide quality care, and they are convinced that 
     government must play a role in setting quality standards.
       And yet . . . Congress delays.
       Just one bill responds to these legitimate and deep-felt 
     concerns, and that is S. 1890, the Patients' Bill of Rights 
     Act. It is the only bill that gives patients real 
     protections, not phony substitutes. The Senate has an 
     opportunity--and an obligation to Americans--to enact 
     meaningful patient protections by passing S. 1890, the 
     Patients' Bill of Rights Act.

  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record 
a letter signed by a number of organizations saying:

       We, the leadership organizations working for passage of the 
     Patients' Bill of Rights. . .ask [the majority leader] to 
     schedule a full and fair debate before the close of the 105th 
     Congressional session.

  Mr. President, I ask the letter be printed in its entirety.
  There being no objection, the letter was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                                             Support The Patients'


                                               Bill of Rights,

                                                  October 2, 1998.
     Hon. Trent Lott,
     U.S. Senate, Washington, DC
       Dear Senator Lott: As you know, there are only a few weeks 
     left to pass meaningful patient protection legislation. We, 
     the leadership organizations working for passage of the 
     Patients' Bill of Rights (S. 1890) ask that you schedule a 
     full and fair debate before the close of the 105th 
     Congressional session. There are now more than 180 
     organizations supporting S. 1890.
       Support for patient protection legislation has grown in the 
     last year. In fact, after being presented with arguments pro 
     and con, 65 percent of Americans believe the government needs 
     to pass legislation to protect them from managed care 
     industry abuses, according to a recent survey conducted by 
     Harvard and the Kaiser Family Foundation. People across the 
     country are calling for debate and passage of real patient 
     protections.
       We urge that the Senate fulfill its responsibility to 
     represent the people's interests. While Congress delays, 
     people are being denied access to the specialists they need, 
     denied coverage for clinical trials that may save their 
     lives, and harmed by bureaucrats making medical decisions 
     based on cost concerns rather than patient care needs.
       There is an urgent need for this legislation, and because 
     of this urgency we request a meeting with you so that we can 
     personally convey the critical importance of this issue to 
     the people across America that we represent.
       Thank you for your time and consideration of this matter. 
     We look forward to hearing from you soon. Please contact 
     Judith L. Lichtman, President, National Partnership for Women 
     & Families, with your reply.
           Sincerely,
         Sandy Bernard, President, American Association of 
           University Women; Peggy Taylor, Director, Department of 
           Legislation, American Federation of Labor-Congress of 
           Industrial Organizations; Charles M. Loveless, Director 
           of Legislation, American Federation of State, County 
           and Municipal Employees; Nancy W. Dickey, MD, 
           President, American Medical Association; Dale Eazell, 
           PhD, Chair, Board of Directors, American Medical 
           Rehabilitation Providers Association; Beverly L. 
           Malone, PhD, RN, FAAN, President, American Nurses 
           Association; Ron Pollack, Executive Director, Families 
           USA Foundation; A. Cornelius Baker, Executive Director, 
           National Association of People with AID; Judith L. 
           Lichtman, President, National Partnership for Women & 
           Family.

  Mr. KENNEDY. There are now more than 180 organizations that are 
supporting it. The time is running short, but, as we have seen in the 
paper, there is a great deal of work yet to be done. We have not lost 
faith that still, somehow, the central concerns of families across this 
country can be listened to and responded to with a positive answer 
that, still, we might be able to, even in these last days of this 
session, have action to protect our families in this country.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

                          ____________________