John Bel Edwards: “Fundamentally, the reason we need this bill is that the law needs to be taken from being on the side of the HMOs and put…”

“Fundamentally, the reason we need this bill is that the law needs to be taken from being on the side of the HMOs and put on the side of patients and doctors so health care decisions in this country are, in fact, being made by people who are trained and have the experience to make them, those being the doctors, the health care providers, for the families who are so dramatically affected by those decisions. The purpose of this legislation is to provide certain substantive and enforceable rights to families and to children who need quality health care. For example, we provide specifically that if a member of a family or child needs to see a specialist, particularly outside the HMO plan, they can have access to that specialist.”