James M. Talent: “There is a major difference. Under our bill, you do not have to die first. You can sue to get the treatment that you…”

“There is a major difference. Under our bill, you do not have to die first. You can sue to get the treatment that you need. Because the emphasis here, and I appreciate the gentleman's comments, I say, in all good faith, the emphasis here is on giving people the care they need when they need it. We want people in the treatment room, not in the courtroom. I would anticipate that very few people would have to go to court. Because we have changed the incentives in this bill for these HMOs. For the very same reason that they have been denying care in the past, they are going to be granting care now because they are going to know, it is going to end up costing them more money if they deny the care up front. So I would anticipate that few people would have to go to court. But that hammer is there. If they spin people along, if they do not pay when they are supposed to pay, you go to court right away. In fact, as the gentleman knows, you can go to court up front in an emergency situation to get an injunction, an emergency injunction to order them to pay.”