Frank Pallone: “I just wanted to mention if I could, before I move to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), that what we are…”

“I just wanted to mention if I could, before I move to the gentlewoman from Connecticut (Ms. DeLauro), that what we are getting from the insurance companies, from the HMOs, and the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green) effectively refuted each of the three arguments, one, they are saying that the patient protections are going to cost too much. Clearly, the Texas experience shows that that is not true. Secondly, they are saying that there are going to be too many lawsuits, which, again, the Texas experience shows dramatically that that is not true. Four or five lawsuits in 2 years, that is incredible. The third thing I just wanted to elaborate on a little bit, and that is this latest notion, which we have been getting really in the last few weeks or last few months, this idea that the employers are going to be sued, and, therefore, they are going to drop coverage. Nothing can be further from the truth. There is specific language had the bipartisan Patients' Bill of Rights, which is the Norwood-Dingell bill, that would specifically say that employers cannot be sued. If I could just very briefly say that, the provision that is in the bipartisan bill protects employers from liability when they were not involved in the treatment decision.”