Jack Reed: “One of the sad but true causes of so many bankruptcies of families throughout this country is the fact that they are…”

“One of the sad but true causes of so many bankruptcies of families throughout this country is the fact that they are overwhelmed by medical bills. Now, this is obvious when it comes to those people without insurance, because for those people, getting sick in America not only means being ill, it also very often means going broke. But one of the other aspects that is startling to so many is that many families with insurance, particularly health maintenance organization insurance, find themselves in similar situations where the insurance they paid for, they thought they bargained for, evaporates when they actually have a health care crisis. That is why it is so very, very important to engage in a thorough debate and legislative action with respect to the Patients' Bill of Rights. I join all of my colleagues in issuing a challenge to the leadership of this body to bring up the Patients' Bill of Rights so we can debate it, we can consider it, and hopefully we can pass it.”