Frank Pallone: “I believe, as the gentleman stated, that the support for these patient protections, this managed care reform, is…”

“I believe, as the gentleman stated, that the support for these patient protections, this managed care reform, is overwhelming with the American people. And it does not matter whether you are a Democrat, a Republican, an independent, or whether you are from Texas or New Jersey or what part of the country. I know from talking to our colleagues that everyone is hearing from their constituents that we need to pass this patient bill of rights, or something like this bill we have been talking about this evening. My fear is what we may see from the Republican leadership, which so far has been stalwart in its opposition to this and its refusal to bring this up, primarily because of the insurance companies and because of the special interest money that comes from the insurance companies that is backing the Republican leadership, what I am fearful of is that as the Republican leadership keeps hearing how much support there is for this legislation, that they will try to come up with what I call a cosmetic fix; that they will try to come up with a very watered down version of our patient's bill of rights that really does not address most of the concerns that we have raised this evening.”