Burgess Owens: “I rise to oppose H.R. 4250, the Republican so-called Patient Protection Act and to voice my enthusiastic support for…”

“I rise to oppose H.R. 4250, the Republican so-called Patient Protection Act and to voice my enthusiastic support for H.R. 3605, the Patients' Bill of Rights Act. H.R. 4250 was conceived in the back room of the Speaker's special 15-member Task Force on Health Care and unveiled just last week. Although the bill was referred to several committees, in a transparently desperate political maneuver, the Republican leadership has put the bill on a fast-track basis and side stepped the traditional deliberative process. I am pleased, however, that many of the provisions that are included in several Democratic bills, including my own bill (H.R. 1191, the Patient and Health Care Professional Protection Act), have been included in today's Patient Protection Act. Yet, this bill, H.R. 4250, falls disgracefully short on 'protections' for patients and health care workers. The authors of H.R. 4250 took great care to ensure the protection of the owners of the commerce of health care--managed care companies.”