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House May Vote on Patients' Bill Next Week

Compromise Sought Ahead of Aug. 3 House Recess

By Adam Entous

Reuters

WASHINGTON (July 26) - Short the votes to defeat the far-reaching

patients' bill of rights they oppose, President Bush and top

Republicans in the House of Representatives pressed on Thursday for a

compromise to shield employers from lawsuits and help more workers

get insured.

Bush met privately at the White House with Republican Rep.

Norwood of Georgia, the chief sponsor of the bill the president has

threatened to veto and scheduled talks with House Speaker Dennis

Hastert. The meetings were signs of a stepped up pace of negotiations

that could clear the way for a vote on patients' rights legislation

before the House adjourns on Aug. 3 for its month-long summer recess.

The shift in strategy reflected the White House's inability thus far

to muster enough Republican votes to block Norwood's patients' bill

of rights, which would expand the rights of Americans to sue their

health plans in state and federal court, and push through an

alternative measure favored by Bush and big business that would set

strict limits on lawsuits.

After his half-hour meeting with Norwood, Bush reiterated his

opposition to the bill in its current form, warning that

it ''encourages lawsuits and discourages American citizens from being

able to afford health insurance.''

But Bush added: ''We are trying to find some common ground on getting

a bill that I can sign and I believe that we are making progress.''

HOPE FOR SOME SETTLEMENT

Top Republicans held out hope Norwood and Bush would settle at least

some of the issues that divide them, particularly over the liability

of large employers who run health plans and make treatment decisions

that affect their workers.

Bush wants the bill to do more to limit the exposure of employers to

costly health care-related lawsuits in state court. In return,

Norwood is pressing the White House to give patients more flexibility

to sue health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and insurers go to

state court.

''We're trying to work through all these nuances,'' Hastert, an

Illinois Republican, told reporters. ''We want to get this thing done

and it should get done in a bipartisan way.''

But it remains to be seen whether any compromises between Bush and

Norwood will be acceptable to key Democrats, many of whom see a

prolonged fight over patients' rights as a political advantage going

into the 2002 congressional elections.

And while Hastert said he hoped to schedule votes on the legislation

for next week, other top Republicans said it could slip to September

or later.

At issue is legislation approved by the Democrat-led Senate in June

that would grant patients sweeping new rights to sue HMOs and

insurance companies over treatment decisions that result in injury or

death.

Under the bill, which was introduced in the House by Democratic Rep.

Dingell of Michigan and Republican Reps. Norwood and Greg Ganske

of Iowa, patients could win jury awards of up to $5 million in

federal court and unlimited damages under state law.

BUSH THREATENS VETO

Bush has threatened to veto both the House and Senate bills, arguing

they would drive up the cost of health care and thereby force many

people into the ranks of the uninsured, and he has thrown his support

behind the alternative crafted by Kentucky Republican Rep. Ernest

Fletcher.

Fletcher's bill would cap noneconomic damages in federal court at

$500,000 and give patients a limited right to sue in state court if

an HMO or insurer failed to abide by the decisions of a medical

review board.

But support for Fletcher's bill has been shaky at best, forcing

Hastert to repeatedly delay the patients' rights debate. Bush stepped

up the lobbying effort on Wednesday and Thursday by summoning

wavering Republicans to the White House, and spokesman Ari Fleischer

said a ''number of members of Congress'' who met with Bush have

agreed to back Fletcher.

But supporters of the Norwood-Dingell bill also claimed to be gaining

ground. They say they have more than the 218 votes needed for

passage, including the backing of at least 13 Republicans. They

expect 207 Democrats to back the measure.

House Republicans were debating how to proceed.

Rather than offering Fletcher's bill as an alternative, Hastert said

Republicans may propose amendments aimed at moving Norwood and

Dingell in Bush's direction on liability and on so-called ''access''

provisions aimed at helping workers in small businesses get health

insurance.

The Norwood-Dingell bill already allows employers to shield

themselves from liability by designating a ''decision maker,'' such

as an insurer, to make medical decisions on their behalf.

The White House wants Norwood to go further, Republicans say, by

agreeing to keep lawsuits against employers out of state court, where

juries are seen as more likely to return the largest verdicts.

But Ganske said he saw no need to make changes to existing provisions

in the bill that protect employers. ''We think that we have the

appropriate provision,'' he said.

Reut14:25 07-26-01

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