Greg Ganske: “on last Friday, in the USA Today, I could not help but notice on the front page an article. It was called ``HMOs Take…”

“on last Friday, in the USA Today, I could not help but notice on the front page an article. It was called ``HMOs Take Spiritual Approach.'' It is written by Julie Appleby. It starts out by saying ``Health plans, buffeted in recent years by their no-frills approach to medical care, are pushing ever further into alternative medicine, hoping to find low cost ways to boost patient satisfaction. Need help understanding the meaning of life? No problem. A Denver-based HMO offers spiritual counseling, six visits at $10 a pop. Fearing surgery? Blue Shield of California unveils a new prescription today, free audio cassettes for patients aimed at harnessing their imaginations to promote healing.'' Mr. Speaker, when I read this and when I also read about some of the abuses by some of the HMOs, I think patients will need some of this spiritual healing to get over some of the ways that they have been treated by HMOs. I want to talk tonight for a little while about where we stand in conference with the patient protection legislation that passed the House and the Senate.”