Frank Pallone: “the reason that I was so impressed with the gentleman's comments earlier is because he was pointing out, really, how…”

“the reason that I was so impressed with the gentleman's comments earlier is because he was pointing out, really, how basic these patient protections are. I think that we cannot emphasize enough how this is really a floor. We are not doing anything radical here. These are basic patient protections that I think most people probably think are already there until they are faced with the reality of how to deal with the managed care organizations in certain circumstances. I loved the gentleman's analogy of the emergency room situation, because that is really so typical. I do not think people can imagine that, if they need a hospital or other kind of care in an emergency, that they have to get prior authorization. What we do in the Patient Bill of Rights, and I think that the Parker bill does the same thing, is to basically say that you use the prudent layperson standard. In other words, if I am in an emergency situation, I have to go to an emergency room, then the standard about the level of care that should be ensured is what the average layperson would think should be ensured in those circumstances.”