    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (1999, Book II)]
    [July 31, 1999]
    [Page 1360]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    [[Page 1360]]

    The President's Radio Address
    July 31, 1999

        Good morning. More than a year and a half ago, I asked Congress to
    pass a strong, enforceable Patients' Bill of Rights that ensures
    critical protections for Americans in managed care, from the right to
    see a specialist if your doctor recommends it to the right to emergency
    room care whenever and wherever you need it to the right to keep your
    doctor through a treatment--even if your employer changes HMO coverage--
    to the right to hold health plans accountable for harmful decisions.
        Now, according to a new survey out just this week, physicians
    believe that when their patients are denied services under managed care,
    up to two-thirds of the time those denials lead to serious declines in
    patients' health. Clearly, patients need protections. The bottom line
    must never take precedence over patients' needs, and too often it does
    today.
        Using my authority as President, I've already acted to make these
    rights real for 85 million Americans who get their health care through
    Federal plans, from Medicare and Medicaid to the veterans administration
    health plan that serves millions of veterans and their families.
    Evidence shows putting in patients' rights raised the cost of these
    plans by only a dollar a month, so we know these rights are affordable,
    as well as crucial. Yet, until Congress acts, tens of millions of
    Americans in managed care are still waiting for the full protection of a
    Patients' Bill of Rights. Democrats in Congress have long been pressing
    to pass a strong Patients' Bill of Rights that would cover all Americans
    in all health care plans, and nearly every doctors' association, every
    nurses' association, every patients' rights group in America--over 200
    of them--supports this approach.
        The Republican leadership in Congress, on the other hand, has long
    resisted, supporting instead a weak alternative that is a Patients' Bill
    of Rights in name only. It doesn't even cover 100 million Americans.
    Now, the Senate barely passed such a weak bill over the opposition of
    every single Democratic Member and a couple of brave Republicans.
    Hopefully, we can still make progress. Just this week several Republican
    House Members, led by some who, themselves, are doctors, forcefully
    raised their voices in support of a strong, enforceable Patients' Bill
    of Rights. This is very good news, indeed. It means there is a
    bipartisan consensus emerging behind a bill that would give all
    Americans the health protections they need. This bill should be debated
    and voted on this coming week, before Congress adjourns for the summer.
    If that happens, I believe the bill would pass, and the American people
    would benefit.
        Unfortunately, House Republican leaders, who earlier this week said
    they would schedule a vote on the Patients' Bill of Rights this month,
    yesterday began backing away from that commitment when it became clear
    that a real Patients' Bill of Rights might well pass. This is very
    disappointing, and I call on them to reconsider. If the House is brave
    enough to protect the American people over the intense lobbying of the
    health insurance companies, the Republican leadership shouldn't stand in
    their way. The American people sent us to Washington to get work done,
    and Congress shouldn't go on summer vacation without voting on the
    Patients' Bill of Rights.
        Protecting patients' rights shouldn't be a political issue; after
    all, no one asks us what our party affiliation is when we show up at the
    emergency room or the doctor's office, and in fact, this isn't a
    partisan issue anywhere else in America. It shouldn't be in Washington,
    DC. Let's make this summer a season of progress for all Americans. Let's
    hold an open and fair debate and pass a real Patients' Bill of Rights
    that will truly strengthen our health care system, strengthen our
    families, and strengthen our Nation for the 21st century.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at approximately 10 p.m. on July 30
    aboard Air Force One at Aviano Air Base, Italy, for broadcast at 10:06
    a.m. on July 31. The transcript was made available by the Office of the
    Press Secretary on July 30 but was embargoed for release until the
    broadcast.