[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 108 (Monday, July 30, 2001)]
[House]
[Pages H4785-H4786]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUPPORTING THE GANSKE-
                         DINGELL-NORWOOD-BERRY 
                        PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS

  (Ms. SCHAKOWSKY asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support H.R. 2563, the 
Ganske-Dingell-Norwood-Berry Patients' Bill of Rights, and to urge its 
passage.
  Patients in my district and throughout the country have been waiting 
far too long for protection against HMO abuses; but they want real 
reform, not a sugar pill that may go down well with the managed care 
industry but provides no relief for patients.
  H.R. 2563 is the only bill that would provide real relief, and the 
Republican leadership ought to schedule it for a vote. Just look at who 
supports it and who rejects the Fletcher placebo.
  The International Association of Firefighters supports it, because it 
provides real protection to local firefighters, unlike the Fletcher 
bill. The Paralyzed Veterans of America believes H.R. 2563 has the 
strongest provisions in numerous areas critical to high-quality health 
care for people with disabilities. The League of Women Voters supports 
the Ganske-Dingell bill because it provides strong and needed 
protections, while the Fletcher bill ``establishes an appeals process 
that will put the rights of health plans ahead of patients''; also, the 
American Nurses Association, the American College of Obstetricians.
  We should listen to those groups. We should listen to the patients. 
We

[[Page H4786]]

should pass an effective and affordable Patients' Bill of Rights, H.R. 
2563, now.

                          ____________________