[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 92 (Friday, June 25, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H4956]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS

  (Mr. PALLONE asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute.)
  Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I once again would like to call on the 
Republican leadership to bring up the Patients' Bill of Rights. I think 
many know that on Wednesday of this week, the Democrats initiated a 
discharge petition on the Patients' Bill of Rights, and as of yesterday 
afternoon, we had over 180 Democratic Members who had signed that 
petition to bring this HMO reform bill to the floor.
  Yesterday also in the Senate, there was major action on the part of 
the Democrats to try to bring up the Patients' Bill of Rights, and also 
I should point out that the AMA, the American Medical Association, had 
a vote the other day which strongly indicated why we need HMO reform. I 
think it is abundantly clear that the American people, the Democrats 
and even some of the Republicans other than the Republican leadership 
are very supportive of HMO reform in a comprehensive way that 
essentially would be brought about most effectively by the Patients' 
Bill of Rights.
  It is time to bring this up. It is time to stop talking and have some 
action on this issue which is so critical to the American people. More 
people contact my office about the problems that they have with managed 
care and the lack of patient protections than any other issue, and the 
horror stories continue. We must take action.

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