[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 137 (Tuesday, October 12, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2071]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

[[Page E2071]]



              WORKING FAMILIES NEED HEALTH PLANS THAT WORK

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. SAM GEJDENSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 12, 1999

  Mr. GEJDENSON. Mr. Speaker, at long last, the House of 
Representatives has passed legislation to inject some accountability 
into the managed care industry. Serious debate to reform health care in 
this country was long overdue. We could no longer wait for another 
person to die from lack of care or another doctor to be reprimanded by 
an HMO for discussing all available treatment options with a patient 
before taking steps towards change.
  Right now, we have a system where HMOs make more money when they 
deliver less care. To stop the abuses that HMOs inflict on their 
patients and to make health care more affordable, we have to ensure 
that patients and their doctors, not accountants, have control of the 
health care system. That is why it was so important to pass the 
Patient's Bill of Rights. This bipartisan legislation, which I 
supported, remedies a number of the problems with an HMO system that 
currently values profits over patient care.
  Access to medically needed care, including access to emergency rooms 
and specialists, is a fundamental element of the Patient's Bill of 
Rights. This legislation will also ban gag rules on physicians and end 
some HMOs' practice of offering financial incentives to withhold 
necessary treatment. This bill will guarantee timely internal appeals, 
as well as an independent external appeals process, when plans deny 
care. Finally, the Patient's Bill of Rights holds plans legally 
accountable when their profit-drive decisions result in serious injury 
or death. People need real ways to hold HMOs responsible.
  Unlike the Patient's Bill of Rights, the Republican substitutes 
prohibit patients from suing HMOs when care is improperly denied. In 
too many instances, courts are the only advocate that consumers have in 
their battles with multi-billion dollar companies. The health insurance 
industry, which makes $952 billion a year, does not need protection 
from lawsuits. When one of your family members dies because an HMO 
denies access to proper care, the Republican substitutes' only recourse 
is an external appeal--that's too little, too late. No other industry 
enjoys such a powerful, Congressionally-mandated shield from liability 
for their negligence. By rejecting the Republican substitutes, Congress 
demonstrated that it's time to remove protections for health plans and 
focus on providing more protections for patients.
  We must create a better system for everyone who gives or receives 
health care in this country. The people who make America work deserve 
health plans that work for them and their families. By passing the 
Patient's Bill of Rights, we have taken our first step towards real 
reform.

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