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Patients Medical Rights

As the opening question of the final 2000 presidential debate George W. Bush replied that, as president, he would work for a federal law to protect patients' rights. "It's time for our nation to come together and do what's right for the people," he said that October night.

Nearly three years later, the government provides no federal safeguards for Americans in managed-care plans and the crusade for patients' rights has faded from view -- both at the White House and in Congress.

Apart from one sentence in his State of the Union address in January, Bush has not mentioned the topic all year.

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), countered: "When you've got a situation where Republicans control all the levers of power in Washington, and the insurance industry [is] calling the tune, it would be impossible to get a good bill through the House and the Senate."

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) faults Norwood for undercutting a House-Senate coalition through his deal with Bush. Norwood, in turn, says the White House miscalculated in insisting the president could persuade the Senate to accept the limits Bush wanted on lawsuits.

In recent decisions the Supreme Court has ruled that patients can bring complaints over HMOs' coverage decisions in state courts; that states can adopt independent review systems to handle complaints against health plans; and that states may require managed-care companies to work with any doctor who wants to take part.

The idea of a federal law protecting managed-care patients also has stayed popular, supported by about four people in five, the Kaiser Family Foundation said. Source Washington Post, September 12, 2003;

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