[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 135 (Thursday, October 7, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H9520]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SUPPORT NORWOOD-DINGELL PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS

  (Mr. ALLEN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. ALLEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Norwood-
Dingell Bipartisan Consensus Managed Care Improvement Act.
  This debate pits doctors and patients against the health insurance 
industry. The insurance industry has weighed into this debate to 
protect its pocketbooks, not its patients. In TV ads and on this floor, 
opponents of a patients' bill of rights have tried to demonize trial 
lawyers. But this debate is how to encourage HMOs to provide better 
care to their patients.
  The substitutes to Norwood-Dingell preserve some or all of the legal 
immunity that the insurers now have even when their decisions kill or 
injure patients. If HMOs can be held liable for their own negligence, 
they will pay more attention to patients. They will be more careful. 
That is all. It is simple. That is what this debate is about. Pass the 
Dingell-Norwood Patients' Bill of Rights.

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