Mike Thompson: “we have heard several anecdotes concerning individuals who are having a problem with their coverage. We must ask…”

“we have heard several anecdotes concerning individuals who are having a problem with their coverage. We must ask yourselves, would those individuals have been any better off if they had no coverage at all? And should an employer be penalized for making the decision to have insurance coverage which may or may not present problems from time to time? That is what we are trying to resolve, and we will be discussing that issue for several days as to how best to resolve it. But we need to remember the front end of the process. It is always set up because some employer, either a large employer or a small employer, chooses to have insurance and set up an insurance plan for his employees. That is what we are dealing with here with regard to the amendment offered by the Senator from Texas. This is a very important amendment. I think this is fundamental. This is what we will be discussing today and Monday and Tuesday. It is the fundamental question of whether or not we want to sue not only HMOs for their transgressions, but whether or not we want to sue employers, whether or not we want to sue the people who do not have to set up these insurance plans and can walk away from them if they want to, can have no insurance if they want to for their employees, or they can give employees a certain amount of money and say you go take the headaches. I am talking about those individuals. Do we want to subject them to unlimited liability in lawsuits, too?”