[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 17]
[House]
[Page 24313]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 24313]]

            WEST VIRGINIANS DESERVE PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS

  (Mr. WISE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Mr. WISE. Madam Speaker, today, almost 200,000 people in West 
Virginia in HMOs and thousands more in managed care are watching 
Congress today. Today, this Congress has a chance to pass real health 
care reform.
  If one's car is sick, one gets to choose one's mechanic. Do not my 
colleagues think people have the same rights when they are choosing 
their doctor?
  This bill provides guaranteed access to emergency room care. It 
protects the doctor-patient relationship. It gives more rights to 
choose OB/GYNs and pediatricians. It has strong enforcement provisions 
against violation of patient rights. It holds HMOs and insurance 
companies accountable for their medical decisions. It has a real 
appeals process when an insurance company denies treatment.
  From the Northern Panhandle, where 44 percent of all insured in Ohio 
County alone are in HMOs, to the growing 25 percent in the Kanawha 
Valley, to the thousands more across the State of West Virginia, there 
is a bill of rights for all citizens. Should there not be a bill of 
rights for patients in managed care?
  I urge Congress to pass this today.

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