Grace Napolitano: “I am here because I am very concerned specifically on this issue of the Patients' Bill of Rights bill that is going to…”

“I am here because I am very concerned specifically on this issue of the Patients' Bill of Rights bill that is going to be coming before us. My constituency is a working-class constituency. I have been in that particular area for over 40 years, so I know that the people that I represent are people who have generally some coverage, not all of them have coverage, and it has become a great issue for all of the people that I represent. That includes some of my businesses, because they have no choice in some areas. The gentlewoman from Illinois (Ms. Schakowsky) talked about some of the things that she would like to see included in the bill. I agree. The whistle-blowers is a very inherent part, an oversight, if you will, directly by either the providers or the people who see the abuse or are able to articulate where we need to make a change or how we can address it to make it better to provide the protection for the patients. The accountability has sort of been overshadowed in the growth of the HMOs.”