Lynn C. Woolsey: “in the last weeks dozens of national health organizations launched a nationwide online petition demanding the passage of…”

“in the last weeks dozens of national health organizations launched a nationwide online petition demanding the passage of comprehensive Bill of Rights. This would protect the basic rights of patients enrolled in managed care plans. In my district north of the Golden Gate Bridge, even though we have some very good health maintenance organizations, people are telling me that they are very concerned about whether their health plan will be there when they need it. So they are getting on this petition, and they are asking the Republican leadership to bring the Patients' Bill of Rights forward so that we can debate it here in the Congress. They are calling on the Speaker of the House to bring managed care reform to the Floor of the House, managed care reform that will guarantee access to emergency room care, ensure that doctors and patients, not insurance companies, have the final word on medical decisions, and give patients recourse when care is denied. It is pretty basic, Mr. Speaker. In our health care system patients should be number one, not the almighty dollar.”