Democrats pressure Bush to support HMO reform bill

WASHINGTON -- The top two Democratic congressional leaders stepped up pressure Tuesday on President Bush to back legislation to give Americans power to sue their health insurance companies.

Senate Minority leader Tom Daschle, D-South Dakota, and House Minority leader Richard Gephardt, D-Missouri, wrote Bush Tuesday asking him to meet with the Senate and House sponsors of a compromise bill on the issue of "legal liability that make it possible for us to deliver a strong patients' bill of rights to the American people soon."

More than 160 million people in the United States have private health insurance. But under current law they have little recourse in cases when treatment is denied. Advocates of reform accuse HMOs and insurance providers of denying patients the care they need in order to save money.

MESSAGE BOARD Health care reform   RESOURCES Read President Bush's plan for healthcare and the uninsured

The ranking Democrats told Bush that "support already exists" for passage of the legislation.

A spokesman for Bush said the president was "committed to working with Congress in a bipartisan way."

The president expressed concern last week about a self-styled compromise version of patients' rights legislation introduced by Sens. John McCain, R-Arizona, Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, and John Edwards, D-North Carolina, that would allow federal lawsuits with a $5 million cap on damages.

The McCain-Kennedy bill was sponsored in the House by Reps. Greg Ganske, R-Iowa and John Dingell, D-Michigan.

Patients' rights legislation stalled last year after the House and Senate could not agree on two key issues:

  • Whether it would cover all Americans in managed care or just those already governed by federal law;

  • Whether patients would have a right to sue for damages in federal courts.

Democrats supported the House bill with the wider coverage and ability to sue while most Republicans supported the more limited Senate version.

The new version introduced last week places a cap on damages in federal courts but does not limit punitive damages in state courts.

"We certainly do not condone unnecessary or frivolous litigation," wrote the Democratic leaders. "But meaningful liability with speedy and serious consequences is the only way to deter managed care plans from trying to maximize profits by denying medical care needed by patients as determined by their doctors."

Bush and GOP lawmakers said they would not support legislation that will encourage lawsuits that could raise patients' premiums and drive them into the ranks of the uninsured.

Edwards, a former trial lawyer who helped negotiate the liability portion of the bill, told CNN he is confident the Senate will take up managed care reform in the next "two to four months."

The new legislation is aimed at providing all Americans with private health insurance, ensuring them access to emergency care and medical specialists. It would also expand the rights of patients to sue their health plans in federal court, while giving states the flexibility to set their own rules.

Insurance companies and health plan providers said its passage would open a floodgate of lawsuits and push up health costs. Business groups said higher health care costs would in turn encourage employers to drop coverage for workers.

Bush echoed those concerns last week before issuing a general outline of his own patients' bill of rights, which would provide protections for everyone enrolled in health plans but place more stringent restrictions on lawsuits against HMOs and other companies.

White House aides said Bush supported the $750,000 liability caps in place in Texas and saw that as a starting point for congressional negotiations.

CNN Capitol Hill Producer Dana Bash and Reuters contributed to this report.

Uninsured press their case in health care debate
January 22, 2001
Physicians' group calls for universal health coverage
January 12, 2001
Effort under way to let states keep unspent funds for uninsured children
September 30, 2000

Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
Families USA
American Nurses Association
American Hospital Association

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.