Greg Ganske: “We are actually seeing some of the nonprofit HMOs such as Kaiser, HIP, calling for Federal legislation for patient…”

“We are actually seeing some of the nonprofit HMOs such as Kaiser, HIP, calling for Federal legislation for patient protections. They would like to see a national uniform standard so that their competitors who cut corners and needlessly put at risk people's life and limbs are not able to unfairly compete against them when they are trying to do a legitimate job. Let me give another example. I am not calling some of these cases anecdotes, because some of the opponents to these two bills say, well, we should not legislate by anecdote. I am a physician. I continue to be a physician. I continue to do charity care while I am in Congress. So I am going to refer henceforth in this talk tonight to 'patients,' because that is what I think they are. Let us talk about Francesca Tenconi, an 11-year-old girl. She suffers from a disease called Pemphigus Foliaceous. This is an autoimmune disease in which her body's immune system becomes overactive and attacks the protein in her skin. Her parents have had to battle with their HMO to insist upon appropriate diagnosis and medical care.”