Political Quotes

“I have said before that the Senator from North Dakota has spent a great deal of time on the Patients' Bill of Rights, developing a foundation so that the legislation could pass. It was Senator Edwards' legislation, along with Senators Kennedy and McCain. But the real foundation for that legislation came as a result of the work that Senator Dorgan did around the country as the chairman of the policy committee, holding hearings all over America. He mentioned Las Vegas. There was a dramatic hearing held in Las Vegas, with people complaining about how they had been mistreated or not treated. Not only did we have patients coming in, we had physicians coming in and telling us how they could not render care that they, in their expertise, training, and experience, indicated needed to be done, and their managed care entity would not let them do it. There are cases where a doctor has been pulled off the case because his recommendations for treatment were not what the HMO or the managed care entity wanted. I have great respect and admiration for the Senator from North Dakota for helping us lay a foundation so that we could pass successful legislation. All eyes are now upon the House of Representatives, to make sure they pass legislation that is in keeping with what we did over here. They are trying to spin this, saying the legislation in the Senate is all about lawyers.…”