Bill Clinton: “This raises a very important point. If you've read your health insurance policies, for those of you who have them, you…”

“This raises a very important point. If you've read your health insurance policies, for those of you who have them, you know that they cover certain problems. They do not prescribe procedures. For example, if the health insurance policy covers pregnancy-related services, it doesn't tell you that you can--it doesn't weigh whether you can have natural childbirth with Lamaze, but you can't have a C-section if you need it, right? It doesn't say that. It doesn't say what things will happen; it just says this issue is covered, this problem is covered. So that this lady's care is covered under her health insurance policy, but the insurance company has decided that this procedure, bone marrow transplant, shouldn't be covered even though it doesn't say that in the policy, right? It didn't say in the policy, bone marrow transplants aren't covered, did it? They decide if it's experimental. Now, just so you don't think--I know what a lot of you must be thinking, ``Well, it's probably more expensive than a regular operation.'' The answer to that is, in this case it probably is. But if it works, it will cost the economy a lot less money over the long run in the health care system. But just so you don't think it always applies only to more expensive procedures, I talked to a doctor just 3 days ago who talked to me about some new gall bladder technique that's done almost like arthroscopic surgery on knees which is much less expensive and is also being denied by some health insurance companies, even though the policy doesn't say so, on the theory that it's experimental, too. So that in effect, doctors are not free to practice medicine and let their patients make informed choices about what is best for their health care because of conditions not written in the insurance policy, except a general ``well, if we think something is experimental, we don't have to let you do it.'' Big problem. Where is Ewen Gillies? Did I pronounce your name right? [Mr. Gillies described his problem in obtaining payment from his insurance company for his wife's intensive cancer treatment.]”