[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 A PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS, NOT A LAWYER'S RIGHT TO BILL

  (Mr. HAYWORTH asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HAYWORTH. Madam Speaker, I always enjoy hearing from my colleague 
from Connecticut, especially her description of a poison pill involving 
legislation. Madam Speaker, let me suggest to my colleagues the only 
poison pill is that which would seek to enrich and empower trial 
lawyers and courtrooms over clinics.
  There is much we can agree on in truly a bipartisan fashion. I 
believe, as I think every Member of this House does, that when it comes 
to health care decisions, those decisions should not be made by an 
insurance company bureaucrat any more than they should be made by a 
Washington bureaucrat. The power should be in the hands of the 
patients.
  The patients I know in the Sixth District of Arizona want to see a 
doctor, not a lawyer. They want access to a clinic, not a courtroom. 
And they do not want their estates to sue; they want to live long, 
productive lives and seek help. That is the essence of what happens 
today, not demonization of the insurance companies nor a poison pill of 
freedom for patients.
  Let us have a true patients' bill of rights, not a lawyer's right to 
bill.

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