Jack Reed: “today we are engaged in a very important debate about the reform of the IRS, but there is another very crucial debate…”

“today we are engaged in a very important debate about the reform of the IRS, but there is another very crucial debate that we also must consider and recognize, and that is the debate about the future of our health care system in the United States-- particularly the managed care health care system, which is becoming so prominent in America today. I am particularly concerned that children should also be part of this debate and that they deserve the same consumer protections that many have talked about in the context of adult health care plans. Managed care, as we all recognize, plays a very important and critical role in our health care delivery system and has provided many benefits. But we also hear repeatedly about instances in which patients--particularly children--are not served as well as they should be by managed care. I recall one child who was brought to my attention in Rhode Island. A young child, Morgan Smith, was born in Rhode Island November of 1993. Shortly after her fourth birthday, Morgan was diagnosed with Rhabdomyosarcoma, a cancer that attacks any smooth muscle in the body, including blood vessels. They detected this cancer in Morgan's brain. She was indeed faced with a critical, life-threatening brain tumor.”