Rick Allen: “in view of those last comments, I would point out that although we have investigations in this House galore, we have not…”

“in view of those last comments, I would point out that although we have investigations in this House galore, we have not had one hearing on the subject of managed care reform. Health care financing is in transition and the shift to managed care has raised concerns about implications for health care quality. Managed care must be more than managed cost. Every American deserves quality health care. Managed care reforms are necessary at the Federal level to ensure that managed care is quality care. Even in my home State of Maine where strong patient protections have been enacted at the State level, my constituents know that we need a national solution to a national problem. The Republican legislation only applies to Americans in self-insured plans. They ignore two-thirds of Americans with private health insurance. One hundred thirteen million Americans are left out in the cold by the Republican bill. The Republicans have a patchwork approach to dealing with the real problems such as access to specialty care and the choice of physicians. Furthermore, the Republican bill is laced with poison pills such as health marts and malpractice limits. My constituents want real protections. They do not want a watered down bill. They want the Democratic Patients' Bill of Rights Act.”