Political Quotes

“listening to this debate it probably sounds like the Democrats have coined a good phrase, the Patients' Bill of Rights, and they are the only ones in favor of it. It is a good phrase. What we are doing is legislating. Legislating means fixing the bill so that it does what the title says. We want to have a Patients' Bill of Rights. Both sides want a Patients' Bill of Rights. That is the fundamental issue before the Senate. The fundamental issue is getting patients the care they need when they need it. The lawsuits are peripheral. They are not the main issue. I have listened to my Republican colleagues discuss this matter for 2 days; likewise, my Democratic colleagues continue to raise specific examples of patients whose care was not appropriately delivered. They have cited the need for their version of a Patients' Bill of Rights to curb such abuses by HMOs. The Democrats know full well it is not a new right to sue that will address the cases they keep raising. They know it is the immediate medical review of the claim for benefits that will get people care and prevent more horrible injuries from occurring. Here is the interesting part. We all agree on this point. Eighty percent of what is being talked about in the Patients' Bill of Rights we agree on. Eighty percent of it will take care of the patients. That is the part on which we agree. It has been reflected in every version of the bill that has ever been introduced.”