[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 6 (Tuesday, February 1, 2000)]
[House]
[Pages H97-H98]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS

  (Mr. GEJDENSON asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GEJDENSON. Mr. Speaker, it is time for the conferees to move 
forward with a patients' bill of rights. The leadership of this 
Chamber, which has

[[Page H98]]

 blocked the legislation for years now, has to recognize that the 
American people are rightly demanding that their elected leaders give 
them a fair chance at getting decent health care.
  There are 47-some million Americans without health care. That is a 
tragedy and an embarrassment for this great Nation, but the fact the 
people who pay their premiums and expect to get care when they are ill, 
or their loved ones are in danger, end up fighting the bureaucracy of 
these large corporations with their hands tied behind them and 
virtually no rights, which is an outrage.
  This House and the Senate need to come together and pass a real bill 
that gives citizens the right to protect themselves in these medical 
emergencies.

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