    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [October 2, 1999]
    [Pages 1659-1660]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    October 2, 1999

        Good morning. Although my voice has been a little hoarse, I want to
    speak with you this morning about your voice, about how you can make the
    difference this week to help secure the vital health care protections
    you've long deserved.
        Like many of you, I've been appalled by the tragic stories of men
    and women fighting for their lives, and at the same time forced to fight

    [[Page 1660]]

    insurance companies focused only on the bottom line. I've met the
    husbands and wives of those who have died when insurance companies
    overruled a doctor's urgent warnings. I met a former HMO employee who
    broke down in tears when describing how callous delays wound up costing
    a 12-year-old cancer patient his leg. If we work together, we've got the
    power to put patients first once again.
        Just this week Governor Gray Davis signed
    into law an ambitious health care reform package, giving 20 million
    residents of California a strong and enforceable Patients' Bill of
    Rights. Now it's time to do the same for every American, because it
    doesn't matter whether you're from California or Connecticut or anywhere
    in between; families all across our Nation need greater patient
    protections at this time of great change in medical care.
        My administration has worked hard to do its part. Through executive
    action, we've granted all of the patient protections we can give under
    law to more than 85 million Americans who get their health care through
    Federal plans.
        Today I'm pleased to announce that this month we'll propose rules to
    extend patient protections to each and every child covered under the
    Children's Health Insurance Program. These children are from some of our
    hardest pressed working families. That's why I feel so strongly about
    giving them not only access to health care but also the guarantee of
    quality care.
        Yet, some in Congress still seem intent on moving in the opposite
    direction. Republican leaders recently have attached language to a
    budget bill to deprive 120 million employees of the right to a timely
    internal appeal of any coverage decision that denies them care they were
    promised. Blocking this basic right is simply unacceptable. It puts
    special interests first and patients last.
        But this week the House of Representatives has a chance to
    effectively erase this action as they sit down to vote at long last on
    whether to give all Americans in health plans all the protections of the
    Patients' Bill of Rights. This vote is critical. For all of the steps
    this administration and many States have taken to extend patient rights,
    we don't have the authority to protect every family unless Congress
    acts.
        So I encourage you to urge your Representatives to vote for the
    comprehensive bipartisan Patients' Bill of Rights, sponsored by
    Congressmen Charlie Norwood and John
    Dingell. This legislation will give every
    American the right to emergency room care and the right to see a
    specialist; the right to know you can't be forced to switch doctors in
    the middle of a cancer treatment or pregnancy; the right to hold your
    health care plan accountable if it causes you or a loved one great harm.
        The bill had already been endorsed by more than 300 health care and
    consumer groups all across America. I'm convinced the votes are there to
    pass this Patients' Bill of Rights this week. But we need your help to
    make it clear to the Republican leaders that we can't tolerate any
    attempt to kill this bill with legislative poison pills.
        Together, let's tell them to give this legislation the straight up
    or down vote it deserves. Let's not allow anything to jeopardize the
    remarkable bipartisan consensus we have worked so hard to build. If you
    make your voice heard and Republican leaders permit every Member to vote
    on the strong bipartisan bill that stands today, this week can bring the
    most important health protections in years. Partisan posturing and delay
    will only make matters worse. To me it's the same choice patients face
    every day: active, preventive medicine now or expensive, last-minute
    interventions later. The American people are counting on the Congress,
    and especially the Republican leaders, to make the responsible choice.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 12:50 p.m. on October 1 in the Eiffel
    Tower Restaurant at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, NV, for broadcast at
    10:06 a.m. on October 2. The transcript was made available by the Office
    of the Press Secretary on October 1 but was embargoed for release until
    the broadcast.