Harry Reid: “If I may ask the Senator one more question, I hope Roberto is doing OK. Senator Dorgan and I held a hearing in Las…”

“If I may ask the Senator one more question, I hope Roberto is doing OK. Senator Dorgan and I held a hearing in Las Vegas, NV, where a mother's testimony was not as optimistic. It was sad. She had had dealings with an HMO, and her son is now dead. That was her testimony. Senator Dorgan and I will talk about that more as the debate goes on. The Senator from Illinois is right; the HMOs deal with people's health: Roberto, the boy in Las Vegas, parents, mothers, brothers and sisters. There is nothing that is more devastating than having someone sick and you can't get what you know needs to be done. That is what the debate is all about. It is about accountability. Are people going to be held to a standard that is fair? We are not asking for a standard that is unfair or unreasonable or that has not been in place in the past. We are asking to have the standard where a doctor makes a decision as to the care their patient receives and it is not made by some clerk in a room in Baltimore or San Jose; it is made by that doctor who is taking care of that patient. Will the Senator agree?”