[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 90 (Wednesday, June 23, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H4744]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  SUPPORT THE PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, for the past 2 years, the American public 
has been very clear in its desire for managed care reform. It has sent 
the same consistent message time and time again that medical decisions 
should be made by doctors and patients and not by insurance company 
bureaucrats.
  Yet, the Republican leadership foiled meaningful HMO reform in the 
last Congress, and they are stalling as we speak. Today, congressional 
Democrats are signing a discharge petition calling for real managed 
care reform to be brought to the House floor immediately, because the 
Republican leadership will not bring that bill to the floor of the 
House.
  This petition calls for a very, very simple set of comments: the 
ability to choose one's own doctor, an easy thing to grasp on to, 
guaranteed access to emergency rooms, guaranteed access to specialty 
care. Freedom from gag rules to prevent doctors from offering care, and 
the ability to hold HMOs accountable.
  Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to sign on to the discharge 
petition. The families of this country should be able to make their 
medical decisions free from the heavy hand of HMO accountants. Let us 
sign our names today and support a real patients' bill of rights.

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