Political Quotes

“let me respond briefly to a couple of the comments that were made about the Enzi amendment. First of all, no argument was made that I heard about the blue-slip problem, so I presume there is agreement that if this amendment is included, it would require the entire Patient Protection Act to be sent back. Second, I say to my friend from Wyoming, I actually did listen to his comments in the debate. And not only that, I sat in hours of meetings with Senators Snowe and DeWine, and others, working out the language of the Snowe-DeWine-Nelson amendment. The Senator is factually incorrect about one thing; that is, that what Snowe-DeWine-Nelson does is, No. 1, provide complete, 100-percent protection for 94 percent of the employers in the country. Almost every small employer is totally protected. But we left rights in place for patients. The employers are completely protected. For the self-insured, self-administered employers, we have also provided specific protections in this amendment, which we have been working on for several days now. No. 1, they are completely carved out. Self-insured, self-administered plans are totally carved out of the Federal cause of action in the Bipartisan Patient Protection Act. They cannot be held responsible for contractual, administrative responsibilities, period. They are out.…”