Political Quotes

“What I am seeking to do is to make sure that managed care plans, the fastest growing part of American health care today, are not allowed to impose gag rules that impede patients from getting all the information that they need with respect to medical services and medical treatments. I come, Mr. President, from a part of the country that has pioneered managed care. The Portland metropolitan area that I represented, first in the House and now as a Senator, has the highest concentration of managed care in our country. We have seen good managed care, and there is plenty of it in Oregon. Unfortunately, there are managed care plans that have cut corners and that have kept a patient from a full range of those who provide necessary services. There are plans in the country where there have been oral communications where a plan says to a particular provider: 'We're watching the number of referrals that you are making out of the network. We don't want you to refer to that particular specialist.' This is going on in our country. It is not right, and that is what this issue is all about. This is not a budget issue, I say to my colleagues. This is a matter of right and wrong.”