[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 145 (1999), Part 20]
[House]
[Page 28595]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



 WHEN WILL THE REPUBLICANS RESPOND TO AMERICA'S DEMAND FOR HMO REFORM?

  (Mr. GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, when the House passed a few weeks 
ago the HMO reform bill, we thought our day had finally come. But this 
week we learned that the vote was really only the first step. The 
Republican leadership appointed the conference committee to negotiate 
with the Senate with only one member who voted for HMO reform.
  Instead of responding to the needs of the American people, the 
Republican leadership has chosen a path to ignore the will of the 
majority of this House and the needs of the American people.
  This week's Newsweek magazine cover story talks about it: HMO Hell. 
How much longer does the Republican leadership intend to keep American 
families living in this HMO hell?
  The bipartisan bill that passed this House overwhelmingly would 
provide for no gag rules, direct access to specialists, a binding 
external appeals process, access to emergency care, but also the 
accountability of that decisionmaker.
  Let us see if we can make them hear, if not this year then next year. 
We want to get out of HMO hell.

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