[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 23807]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



       IN SUPPORT OF THE DINGELL-NORWOOD PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS

  (Mr. WYNN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. WYNN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to support the bipartisan 
Dingell-Norwood Patients' Bill of Rights. We need protections for 
patients to ensure that they have access to specialists, to ensure that 
they get accurate information about all of their medical options and 
not just the cheapest options. We need to ensure that they can get 
reimbursed for emergency room care. That is what the Patients' Bill of 
Rights is about.
  I am not here to paint the HMOs as the ultimate villains, but I will 
say that the profit motive leads to greed and greed leads to some of 
the worst abuses of patients we have seen.
  Mr. Speaker, we need a Patients' Bill of Rights that is enforceable. 
Unfortunately, the Republican leadership wants to give an empty can. If 
we cannot enforce patients' rights, the rights are meaningless. Some 
would say that is a boon for trial attorneys. Not so. The importance of 
having the right to sue is so there is a deterrent against bad medical 
practices.
  Texas has shown that there is not a significant increase in lawsuits 
when there is an enforceable bill of rights. We will also hear that 
this will drive up costs. Not so. Minimum cost increases are a couple 
of dollars. What is important is that we have an enforceable bill of 
rights with teeth to protect all Americans.

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