Greg Ganske: “Mr. Speaker, I want to talk a little bit about two health care issues that are very important: patient protection…”

“Mr. Speaker, I want to talk a little bit about two health care issues that are very important: patient protection legislation and prescription drug coverage. Just last night, Mr. Speaker, I was at an event here in Washington, and a gentleman who is a CEO of one of the world's largest corporations received an award. This gentleman had had, when he was a child, a bilateral cleft lip repaired, and he spoke beautifully. He has risen to the pinnacle of the business world. He had the advantage of having the appropriate care when he was a baby. And yet if we look at what has happened, my colleagues, around the country, with the advent of managed care, we will see cases like this. Before coming to Congress, I was a plastic and reconstructive surgeon. I took care of lots of babies that were born with birth defects like this, a cleft lip and a cleft palate. And in the last several years, at least 50 percent of the surgeons who take care of children with birth defects like this have had operations on their patients denied because they were not 'medically necessary.'”