[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 135 (Thursday, October 7, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H9521-H9522]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     MANAGED CARE REFORM: A MATTER OF VALUE, ETHICS AND PRIORITIES

  (Mr. STRICKLAND asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. STRICKLAND. Madam Speaker, the issue before the House today is a 
complex one, but the answer is fairly simple. We are being given a 
forced choice today. We can either choose to put medical care back into 
the hands of physicians and patients, or we can allow those medical 
decisions to remain in the hands of insurance bureaucrats.
  All across America today, citizens are being harmed and I believe are 
losing their lives because we have allowed

[[Page H9522]]

the insurance companies and the HMOs to make medical decisions. This is 
a matter of value. It is a matter of ethics. It is a matter of 
priorities.
  Who are we going to put first? Patients? And are we going to honor 
the sacred relationship between the physician and the patient, or are 
we going to continue to allow the HMOs and the insurance companies to 
put profits above patient welfare? It is a simple choice.
  The American people are watching, and every one of us ought to be 
held accountable for what we do in this chamber today.

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