[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 15619]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                 PASS THE REAL PATIENTS' BILL OF RIGHTS

  (Mr. TURNER asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. TURNER. Mr. Speaker, this is a sad day for patients and their 
doctors. A good bipartisan bill, the Patients' Bill of Rights, went 
down to the White House yesterday and came back as the insurance 
companies' bill of rights. It went down to the White House as the 
patient protection act and came back the insurance company protection 
act.
  The President took a bill that has passed the Senate, the same bill 
that received almost two-thirds of the votes of this Chamber last year, 
and he negotiated away the rights of patients to secure the health care 
their doctors prescribe.
  The Patients' Bill of Rights was negotiated away by the President to 
giving a special deal to the insurance company, a deal that has never 
been granted to any individual or any business in the history of this 
country. If we vote for this bill, we will be rolling back the rights 
of patients for every State in the union.
  In Texas, we have had a Patients' Bill of Rights since 1997. It is 
working. It has not resulted in a flood of litigation. It has not 
resulted in higher health insurance premiums. We have had only 17 
lawsuits. The President's proposal will repeal this good law that is 
working. I urge my colleagues to stand up for States' rights, stand up 
for patients and their doctors and pass the real patients' bill of 
rights.

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