[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12091]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



               SUPPORT BIPARTISAN PATIENT PROTECTION ACT

  (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, Americans need a Patients' Bill of Rights. 
Every single day we hear stories of patients whose health has been 
seriously jeopardized because their health plan has denied coverage. 
Each day 35,000 patients experience a delay in needed care and 7,000 
patients per day are denied referral to a medical specialist.
  Doctors are unable to make the best medical decisions for their 
patients because their hands are tied by the insurance companies. What 
we need to do is to return those medical decisions back to doctors and 
patients and out of the hands of insurance companies. We need a 
Patients' Bill of Rights that grants access to specialists, allows 
patients to choose their own doctors, lifts physician gags that 
prohibit doctors from talking about medical options, allows for access 
to emergency rooms, and, yes, holds HMOs accountable for negligent 
actions.
  These patient protections are long overdue. The Republican leadership 
has watered down meaningful bipartisan legislation to protect another 
special interest, the managed care organizations. They want to give 
HMOs special protection from lawsuits, while weakening patients' 
ability to hold health plans accountable.
  Vote for Dingell-Norwood. Support the bipartisan Patient Protection 
Act. In the long run, it will help the American people.

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