Frank Pallone: “Republican leaders in both Chambers are now pushing managed care reform plans that will not provide enforcement of…”

“Republican leaders in both Chambers are now pushing managed care reform plans that will not provide enforcement of patient protections because they deny patients the right to sue their HMO when their health suffers because they are denied the care that they need. Federal judges around the country are increasingly frustrated by the current law which prohibits patients from holding their HMOs accountable. Take the case, for example, in Denver, where Judge John C. Porfillo of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit noted that current law gives the courts no choice in such cases. Judge Porfillo told the New York Times he was deeply moved by the tragic circumstances of a woman who died of leukemia after her HMO denied her care. The right to sue, Mr. Speaker, is the enforcement mechanism for all the patient protections that we are advocating as Democrats. President Clinton summed it up best when he said a right without a remedy is not a right. The Democrats' Patients' Bill of Rights would hold HMOs accountable and give patients the right to sue when they are denied the care that they need. The Republican leadership should abandon its charade and stop pushing its sham proposal and get behind the Patients' Bill of Rights.”