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Clinton urges Senate to pass strong patient rights bill
July 9, 1999 WASHINGTON (July 9) -- With the Senate set to take up the so-called "patients' bill of rights" legislation early next week, President Bill Clinton on Friday pushed lawmakers to back a broader plan for reforming health maintenance organization (HMO) rules. "The purpose of managed care is to enhance quality of care by making it as affordable as possible, not to undermine quality of care by making the people who provide managed care as profitable as possible," Clinton said during an appearance before a group of medical professionals and educators at the University of California, Los Angeles, Medical Center. Senators are scheduled to begin debate on the HMO legislation when they return Monday from a recess. In the House, a final version of their bill is scheduled to be settled in committee next week. Clinton was in California following his four-day tour of America's most economically depressed areas. He will remain in Los Angeles on Saturday to watch the U.S. women's soccer team compete in the World Cup final. The president said the Republican alternatives don't go far enough, arguing they are too limited in scope and don't cover adequate numbers of people. He also slammed the GOP for allowing his plan to die in Congress last year. "Thank goodness the Senate finally is going to take this up. Last year, all year the leaders of the Senate kept us from bringing the bill up. And there's a good reason why they did. They're not for it, but they know they can't afford to be caught being against it," the president said.The White House wants legislation that guarantees patient access to health care specialists and emergency room services as well as protections from patients being forced to switch doctors in the middle of a treatment regiment. One sticking point is Democrats' insistence that the package also include the right for patients to sue health plans and collect damages when treatment is withheld. "Our plan assures HMO accountants don't make arbitrary medical decisions," Clinton said. Republicans say the measures being pushed Democrats are too expensive and would result in employers dropping coverage for their employees. Clinton countered that argument Friday, saying: "We put the Patients' Bill of Rights into the federal employees health plan it raised the cost of health insurance by less than a dollar a month." Republican leaders, hoping to limit debate, announced Thursday they would open debate with a Democratic-written bill. The move would is likely to limit the number of politically sensitive amendments Democrats will offer but under the plan, the GOP gets to offer the final amendment after four days of debate. They are expected to use that penultimate vote to substitute their own bill for the entire Democratic measure. Democrats decried the move, but Republicans made no apologies. As political maneuverings on Capitol Hill intensify, so are the lobbying efforts by business and insurance groups. A $750,000 TV ad campaign aimed at undecided GOP senators was launched by some of the same groups that helped defeat Clinton's 1994 plan for universal health care. The ads warn the patients' bill of rights could raise the cost of insurance. The number of uninsured Americans continues to grow. Despite prosperous economic times, there were 43.4 million uninsured Americans in 1997. That was up 4 million since Clinton proposed his universal health insurance plan in 1994. CNN's Eileen O'Connor and The Associated Press contributed to this report. |
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MORE STORIES:Friday, July 9, 1999
• Transcript: Clinton speaks on patients' bill of rights • Video: How the poverty issue has changed since the 1960s • New Hampshire Sen. Smith to leave GOP • First lady supports Jerusalem as capital of Israel • Secretary of Veterans Affairs announces resignation • On 'listening tour,' first lady's attention turns to business issues • California court strikes down 'scarlet letter' term limits initiative • Gore defends affirmative action, cites minority wealth gap • Senate GOP income tax cut aims for people paying at lowest rate • Keyshawn Johnson trying to lure major commerce to inner city • From sparkling water to the economy, New Yorkers offer first lady advice • Governor's affair a central focus of Mississippi campaign • Proposed new job for vice president: stopping nuclear threat • GOP fires procedural salvo in HMO debate | |||||||||||||||