Sick of Partisan Politics? Where are the GOP's family values?? We want a Patient's Bill of Rights!

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http://news.lycos.com/headlines/TopNews/article.asp?docid=RTNEWS-CONGRESS-HE

ALTH-DC & date=20000608

Senate Narrowly Kills Democratic Health Bill

Thursday, June 08, 2000

By Joanne Kenen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - For the second time in less than a year, the Senate

Thursday narrowly defeated a Democratic patients' bill of rights, but it may

not be the last word on the hot-button issue this election year.

As HMOs (health maintenance organizations) and other forms of managed care

have proliferated, concern has mounted that they may, in some cases, put

cost-savings above health.

Congress has been bombarded with horror stories about patients being denied

access to emergency rooms, medical specialists, diagnostic tests or cutting

edge treatment -- although the HMO industry says such anecdotes give a

distorted image of managed care and that proposals for federal regulation

are too heavy-handed.

The House passed a bipartisan patients' rights bill last year, that covers

all privately insured Americans and gives people the right to sue their

health plan if care is delayed or denied. It had the backing of the American

Medical Association and many patient advocacy groups.

But the Senate has been bitterly divided on party lines, and it passed a

narrower Republican bill with no right to sue. After months of negotiations,

no compromise has been struck.

" We have not acted. And tens of thousands of people are paying a price that

they shouldn't have to pay because we have not acted, " said Senate

Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

President Clinton, en route back from Japan, also issued a statement from

Air Force One urging the Senate to back the bill.

The vote, on a procedural motion that effectively killed the bill for now,

was 51-48, with four Republicans joining the Democrats. That's a gain of two

Republican votes for the Democrats since the last Senate vote on the issue

last July. And one Democrat was absent.

Key Republicans signaled they were all but abandoning any hopes for

bipartisan compromise, although they will keep talking.

" Everything that the White House has done and everything that the Democrats

have done in the last couple of days has been very detrimental, " said

assistant Senate Republican leader Don Nickles of Oklahoma.

" If we want a patients' bill of rights, Republicans are going to have to

write this bill and pass it, " said Texas Republican Phil Gramm.

But lead Democrats hailed the close vote as a sign that victory was in their

grasp.

" We're one vote away, " said Massachusetts Democrat Kennedy. If

further negotiations fail, " We'll come back to the floor and debate this

again and again and again. "

Democrats did not rule out sweetening their offer next time with some

health-related tax provisions favored by Republicans, such as tax-free

Medical Savings Accounts.

Last year, the late Chafee of Rhode Island and Fitzgerald were

the two Senate Republicans to basically side with the Democrats on most

HMO-related votes.

On this procedural vote, Fitzgerald, Chafee's son and successor Lincoln,

Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and McCain of Arizona crossed party

lines.

But the majority of Senate Republicans say the Democratic approach would

raise costs, and add another million people to the 44 million who already

lack insurance. They also said lawsuits would not get people timely care.

If your child needs medical care, " you want to go to some quick appeals

process, not to some courtroom three years from now, " said Tennessee

Republican Sen. Bill Frist.