Political Quotes

“first of all, let me put perspective on this because we have had the amendment introduced, and there are basically three points I want to make. No. 1, I applaud the Senator from Ohio and the Senator from Maine because they have, for the first time in the debate, addressed this issue of suing employers--this issue of who is responsible, who gets sued, if there is harm or injury or cause of action. As one can tell from their earlier discussion, there has been a lot of debate in struggling with how best to address who you sue and when you sue them and what entity. There is not very much certainty out there. Do you sue the plan? Do you sue the employer? Do you sue the agent of the plan? Do you sue the physician or the hospital when there has been harm or injury? In the McCain-Edwards-Kennedy bill, there are exclusions for the physician and the hospital. However, the argument and the debate over the last 4 or 5 days has made it clear that you can sue the employers if they directly participate. And what has now been brought to the floor in a very positive way, I believe, is this concept of giving certainty to all that through a model that is called the designated-decision-maker.”