Patients’ Rights Bill Likely ‘Dead’ in Tennessee State House This Year

Under "pressure" from the insurance industry, a Tennessee state House Budget subcommittee on May 23 voted to "delay consideration" on patients' rights legislation (HB 1466) until the Legislature passes the state budget -- an "unusual move since the legislation does not have any costs attached" -- likely killing the "push" for a patients' rights bill in Tennessee this year, the Nashville Tennessean reports. The bill, sponsored by state Rep. Kim McMillan (D), would allow patients to sue their health plans for denial of "necessary" medical care after exhausting a "streamlined" internal and external appeals process. "It probably is dead, but I'm not sure," state Rep. Randy Rinks (D), a member of the subcommittee, said, adding, "The trouble was trying to get agreement across the board with all the parties ... the insurance industry and business groups." Erik Cole, executive director of Tennessee Citizen Action, a consumer advocacy group, called the subcommittee's decision a "lesson in how to kill a bill without having to take responsibility for killing it." Opponents of the bill -- including Gov. Don Sundquist (R) and insurance industry representatives -- maintain that the legislation would increase the cost of insurance and force more residents into TennCare, the state's Medicaid managed care program. "We feel it does not satisfy the goals of a patients' bill of rights and is strictly a liability bill," Sundquist spokesperson Alexia Levison said. Amanda Young, a lobbyist for several insurance companies, said that the industry "gladly takes credit" for stalling the bill. "This bill is not a patients' bill," but legislation "designed to benefit doctors," she said. In addition, she "disputes backers' claims" that the bill would "speed up" review processes. "This does nothing to give people quick quality health care," she said. In the state Senate, a similar bill (SB 20), sponsored by state Sen. Jim Kyle (D) "is also stuck behind the budget." Kyle said, "The administration is against this, the insurance industry is against this ... those are all powerful forces" (de la Cruz, Nashville Tennessean, 5/24).