Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Rounds Up Editorial Reaction to Patients’ Rights Bill

After long debate, the House last week passed a patients' rights bill (HR 2563) sponsored by Reps. Greg Ganske (R-Iowa), John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.) that would offer Americans a host of protections against health plans. House members passed the legislation after adopting an amendment to limit patients' rights to sue HMOs that was part of an agreement reached Aug. 1 between Norwood and President Bush (http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=6175Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/3). In response, newspapers and representatives from interest groups have offered opinions on the latest turn in the patients' debate. A sampling of their opinions appears below.

Newspapers

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: In an editorial, the Journal-Constitution predicts that Bush "will have hell to pay" in the patients' rights debate and criticizes the president for "turn[ing] a real bill of rights for patients ... into a bill that protects Bush's friends in the health care industry" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/6).
• Detroit News: A Detroit News editorial predicts that the patients' rights bill passed in the House likely "won't accomplish the goal of protecting patients from abuse by insurance companies" (Detroit News, 8/5).
• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: While a number of observers have criticized Norwood for compromising with Bush, the Post-Gazette warns that the analysis "ignores the big picture: Both houses of Congress -- with the support of President Bush -- have now ratified" patients' rights legislation (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 8/5).
• New York Daily News: The Daily News praises the House patients' rights bill as a "sane approach to redressing HMO ills" and urges Bush not to "budge another inch" on the legislation (New York Daily News, 8/5).
• Kansas City Star: According to the Star, the House has "clouded the prospects" for patients' rights legislation by "embracing a surprise agreement" between Bush and Norwood, a "far less attractive" measure than legislation passed in the Senate in June (Kansas City Star, 8/4).
• Akron Beacon Journal: The Beacon Journal criticizes Norwood for "neglect[ing] the consensus" among lawmakers and the public that HMOs "should be held fully accountable" for their decisions about patient care and making a deal with Bush that "fell far short of what is really possible" (Akron Beacon Journal, 8/3).
• New York Post: According to a Post editorial, Bush and Norwood reached a "reasonable compromise" that will prove "better, in the long run, for all Americans" than rival legislation supported by Democrats (New York Post, 8/3).
• Dallas Morning News: A Morning News editorial praises Bush and Norwood for reaching a compromise on patients' rights, pointing out that "otherwise the other reforms that most everyone agrees upon ... would never materialize" (Dallas Morning News, 8/3).
• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Although the Journal-Constitution could not predict whether the bill would "survive Democrats' insistence on a punitive right to sue" health plans, they support Bush's "continued rejection of a bill that would encourage frivolous litigation" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/3).

Interest Group Representatives

• Judy Waxman, deputy executive director of Families USA: Waxman maintains that the patients' rights bill passed in the House "allows HMOs to operate with impunity" and represents a "huge step back" for patients in the United States (Families USA release, 8/2).
• Mary Grealy, president of the Healthcare Leadership Council release: According to Grealy, the House-passed patients' rights bill represents a "significant improvement" over legislation that the Senate approved in June but still "threatens to increase America's uninsured rolls by raising health care costs" (Healthcare Leadership Council, 8/2).
• Scott Serota, president and CEO of the BlueCross BlueShield Association: Serota says that the bill "will not be in the best interest of consumers" and urges lawmakers to "focus on quality health care and affordability, not on liability, to address the needs" of patients (BlueCross BlueShield Association release, 8/2).
• Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, president of the League of Women Voters: According to Jenkins, the House patients' rights bill would "significantly weaken citizens' rights and access to ... genuine patient protections" and "reinforce the already powerful hands" of HMOs (League of Women Voters release, 8/2).
• Donald Young, interim president of the Health Insurance Association of America: Young warns that the "deeply flawed" bill would not "stem the tide of expensive lawsuits," but would "drive up" the cost of health insurance, resulting in more Americans "joining the rolls of the uninsured" (Health Insurance Association of America release, 8/2).