[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 151 (Wednesday, October 21, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S12903]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          PATIENT PROTECTIONS

 Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, I wish to express how disappointed 
I am that the 105th Congress has failed to act on legislation to 
increase protections for the millions of Americans whose health 
insurance benefits are managed by health maintenance organizations 
(HMOs).
  The Patients' Bill of Rights legislation, which was introduced by the 
Democratic Leader, Senator Daschle, and cosponsored by me and most of 
my Democratic colleagues, was endorsed by over 180 organizations, 
including the American Medical Association, the American Nurses 
Association, and the AARP.
  The Patients' Bill of Rights would have given protections to all 161 
million privately insured Americans. It would have: Guaranteed patients 
access to emergency room services; ensured access to specialists for 
patients with serious or chronic conditions; given women direct access 
to the OB/GYN, and allowed them to designate their OB/GYNs as primary 
care doctors; allowed patients to appeal their insurance companies' 
decisions to an independent reviewer and receive timely decisions that 
would be binding on HMOs; protected doctors and nurses who advocate for 
their patients from being fired by an HMO; prohibit insurance companies 
from arbitrarily interfering with the decisions of doctors; ensured 
that doctors be able to decide which medications their patients should 
receive; and limited the ability of insurance companies to use 
financial incentives to get doctors to deny patient care.
  It is unfortunate that the Majority Leader would not allow a vote on 
the Patients' Bill of Rights. But this fight is not over. Americans 
continue to demand that their HMOs be held accountable for putting 
profits ahead of patients. Supporters of the Patients' Bill of Rights 
continue to believe that doctors--not HMO accountants--should make 
medical decisions.
  I urge the leadership of the 106th Congress, which will convene in 
January, 1999, to immediately schedule a debate and vote on the 
Patients' Bill of Rights, in order to secure basic patient protections 
for the 60 percent of all Americans who get their health insurance 
through HMOs.

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