[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 28 (Monday, July 19, 1999)]
[Pages 1382-1383]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Senate Action on Patients' Bill of Rights Legislation

July 15, 1999

    Tonight's party line vote for a weak, unenforceable Patients' Bill 
of Rights is the wrong course for America. The Republican leadership's 
bill is a Patients' Bill of Rights in name only.
    It fails to protect more than 110 million Americans--including the 
vast majority of Americans in HMO's. For those it does cover, this bill 
fails to ensure patients' access to the specialists they need; fails to 
ensure patients the rights to keep their doctors throughout a course, a 
treatment; fails to prevent insurance company accountants from making 
final calls on medical decisions; and it fails to hold health plans 
accountable for actions that harm their patients.
    If Congress insists on passing such an empty promise to the American 
people, I will not sign the bill. Passing a strong, enforceable 
Patients' Bill of Rights should not be a partisan issue. This should be 
about protecting patients, not insurance companies.
    We will not stop working on this critical issue until we provide 
patients the protections they need. The American people know the 
difference between a good and bad bill.

[[Page 1383]]

Every major doctors, nurses, and patients organization in the country 
knows the difference. I believe that the will of the people will still 
prevail in this Congress.