[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 10]
[House]
[Page 13632]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



        TIME IS LONG OVERDUE TO PASS A PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS

  (Ms. DeLAURO asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, the time is long overdue to pass a 
Patients' Bill of Rights that puts medical decisions back in the hands 
of doctors and patients. It is time to put the public's interest ahead 
of special interests.
  We have a bipartisan piece of legislation. Ganske-Norwood-Dingell 
ensures that medical decisions come before business decisions. It gives 
every American the right to choose their own doctor, covers all 
Americans with employer-based health insurance, ensures that all 
external reviews of medical decisions are conducted by independent, 
qualified physicians and not HMO bureaucrats.
  Mr. Speaker, it is a bipartisan bill which has broad public support 
endorsed by the American Medical Association and the American Nurses 
Association. It is in stark contrast to the bill that the House 
Republican leadership has offered. That bill is an industry-written 
bill that is designed to stall and kill a real Patients' Bill of 
Rights. It does not give Americans the right to choose their doctor. It 
allows the HMO to choose the independent reviewer. That is like asking 
the fox to guard the chicken coop.
  Mr. Speaker, Congress needs to pass the Ganske-Norwood-Dingell bill 
now. It provides sound, responsible managed care reforms and meaningful 
patient procedures.

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