Political Quotes

“I rise to support the commitment, the vote we will take in a few minutes, to proceed. As the Senator from Massachusetts said, America is ready for strong patient protections. America is ready to hold HMOs accountable when they are making medical decisions. The debate that will ensue today and will take some time, I believe, is an important one to the American people because all 170 million people who receive their health care through employer-sponsored plans will be affected. All of them are going to pay more money for their premiums because of the legislation on the floor. These are new rights, new protections. We will see a bill that will be ultimately signed by the President, I am confident of it, if it is a bill that is balanced, that respects this balance which all Americans deserve--the balance between accountability and patients' rights. We do need to get the HMOs out of the business of practicing medicine. There is no question the pendulum has swung over the last 10 to 15 years to the point that HMOs have gone too far and gotten away from medical decisionmaking, medical decisionmaking being made locally with the doctor-patient relationship. Now it is time to swing that pendulum back. We need to hold HMOs accountable for decisions they make that are medical decisions. We need to return that decisionmaking back to the doctor-patient relationship.”