Ignagni and Pollack Debate Patients’ Rights on ‘Today’

Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, and Karen Ignagni, president of the American Association of Health Plans, discussed the proposals for a patients' bill of rights on NBC's March 22 "Today" show. Co-host Katie Couric began the discussion by asking Pollack about his response to President Bush's pledge to veto the Kennedy-McCain-Edwards patients' bill of rights bill as it now stands. "I have to say I'm disappointed with the president's response," Pollack said, adding, "This bipartisan piece of legislation introduced by Senators McCain, Edwards, and Kennedy has the support of virtually every consumer organization, physician group, nurses' group, because it really provides true protection. And, unfortunately, I think the president seemed to express more concern about the well-being of the insurance companies and HMOs rather than the well-being of patients." However, Pollack said he "wasn't totally surprised," by the president's response. "The president said during the campaign he's the can-do candidate. And I'm afraid he's saying now he's the won't-do president," he said. Asked by Couric why patients should not be able to sue HMOs if they have been "wrongly denied medical coverage," Ignagni said, "What we want to do is put in place processes where individuals don't have the kinds of catastrophes that require the sorts of remedies that have been discussed for the last five years. What we want is resolution of disputes that's fair, fast and effective, with independent doctors making decisions, giving a second opinion, if you will. That's the kind of dispute resolution system that's possible this year. And frankly, I think the president's raising the bar and challenging the U.S. Congress to get to a bipartisan agreement on this legislation that can move forward, that's not in the interest of trial lawyers but in the interest of patients." Pollack said in response that Families USA also supports having independent review panels, "but what's ironic is that doctors, nurses, pharmacists, hospitals, they're all liable when they make adverse decisions that harm patients. Now, HMOs are taking that decision-making authority away from doctors and away from nurses, and yet the industry says they want to be the only ones who are exempt from any kind of accountability. That doesn't make sense. ... HMOs are making life-and-death decisions and taking those decisions away from doctors -- and these decisions are being made by people who never, ever see the patient. They're sitting behind computer screens, they don't have medical training, and yet they're making decisions and they are the only ones who are exempt from any kind of accountability. That doesn't make sense." Ignagni responded that "97% of what physicians recommend is ... approved by health plans. We're talking about a very small variation here" (Couric, "Today," NBC, 3/22).