[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 11 (Monday, March 22, 1999)]
[Pages 457-458]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Patients' Rights Legislation

March 17, 1999

    Today the Congress is beginning its work on patients' rights 
legislation. This issue is critical to assuring Americans high quality 
health care in the 21st century, so I am pleased that we are moving 
forward.
    Unfortunately, the proposal by the Chairman of the Senate Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee falls far short of the 
legislation the American people deserve. Because it applies patients' 
rights only to those in self-insured plans, this proposal leaves 120 
million Americans in insured and individual

[[Page 458]]

plans without the guarantee of critical protections. Millions of 
Americans should not be held hostage to the hope that their State might 
pass legislation providing these protections. In fact, while States have 
the authority to pass patient protections for these plans, not one has 
enacted all of these protections. That is why we need strong Federal 
legislation to ensure that all health plans provide patients these 
important rights.
    Even for those it does cover, the Chairman's proposal leaves out 
many of the most fundamental protections. For example, it does not have 
an adequate enforcement mechanism to ensure that patients are 
compensated when they are injured or die as a result of a health plan's 
decisions; it does not assure patients access to specialists, such as 
oncologists or heart specialists; and it leaves our continuity of care 
protections. That is why every major patient, doctor, and nurse advocacy 
organization has concluded that this proposal is simply inadequate.
    Today represents the first test of whether this new Congress is 
serious about providing Americans with a strong, enforceable Patients' 
Bill of Rights to assure high quality health care. I urge the Committee 
to do everything it can to pass this test and give Americans the health 
care protections they need.