Judd Gregg: “this bill is a very significant bill. It impacts about everybody in America; about 200 million people presently have…”

“this bill is a very significant bill. It impacts about everybody in America; about 200 million people presently have health insurance. As a result, if we passed a bad law, the unintended, or intended, consequences of it could be dramatic. It is important to take a hard, intense look at what is being proposed by Senator McCain and Senator Kennedy as their bill. This is in the context of bills which have already been proposed by Members from our side, some which are bipartisan such as the Breaux-Frist- Jeffords bill; some do not have Democratic sponsorship, such as the Nickles amendment. All have as their basic purpose the same intent underlying--certainly I give credit to the McCain bill for this. The basic intent is making sure individuals are properly treated when they interface with their insurance companies; that they have an opportunity for redress that is effective, which allows them to be sure that if they get poor treatment, they have some way to correct it; and that if they are harmed by their health care provider, they have the ability to recover proper compensation for that harm. That is a goal all Members have. Everyone who is debating in this Chamber understands the importance of making sure that Americans who get health care have adequate recourse when that health care is not supplied correctly.”