[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 35, Number 40 (Monday, October 11, 1999)]
[Pages 1899-1901]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

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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 
insurance companies focused only on the bottom line. I've met the 
husbands and wives of those who have died when insurance

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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.

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