Debbie Dingell: “Mr. Speaker, we face a clear choice today between two different approaches. The first, the Patients' Bill of Rights was…”

“Mr. Speaker, we face a clear choice today between two different approaches. The first, the Patients' Bill of Rights was written last year and revised in March. The other piece of legislation, the Republican leadership bill, was still being written after midnight last night. The Patients' Bill of Rights has been scored by the CBO at a cost of $2 per month per patient, and we provided revenue offsets to ensure fiscal responsibility. The leadership's bill was never even seen by the CBO and has not been read by the Members. Only minutes ago did we get a final score from CBO. Since it does nothing, it costs nothing. I think my colleagues should note, a bill that does nothing costs nothing. The Patients' Bill of Rights guarantees real patient rights. It puts health back into the Health Maintenance Organization. The Republican leadership bill has the word HMO. In that bill, HMO stands for hide my opposition. If our primary concern is health care for the American people, the choice is clear. The Patients' Bill of Rights puts medical decisions, especially the question of medical necessity into the hands of doctors and takes them away from insurance company bureaucrats who now are hurting the American public. The Patients' Bill of Rights guarantees that we can see a medical specialist when we need one.”