Bush to back Frist-Breaux patient-rights bill

Sen. John Breaux is one of the sponsors of a managed care "bill of rights"

From John King
CNN Senior White House Correspondent

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush plans to endorse a managed care "bill of rights" in the Senate that includes lower limits on verdicts against insurers, aides said Monday.

Bush will urge Congress to pass the "patients bill of rights" being offered by Sens. Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, and John Breaux, D-Louisiana, this year, administration officials told CNN.

Frist and Breaux plan to announce details of their legislation Tuesday afternoon. Both have kept senior White House aides informed of their discussions, and two officials said the president has given the legislation his blessing.

MESSAGE BOARD Health Care Reform

The White House sees Breaux as a critical bridge to centrist Democrats. And a Republican moderate, Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords, is a co-sponsor of the Frist-Breaux measure.

The officials said the primary reason for the president's support was the legislation's cap on liability awards: Frist-Breaux would cap "pain-and-suffering" awards at $500,000. In contrast, a bipartisan plan offered by Sens. Edward Kennedy, D-Massachusetts, and John McCain, R-Arizona, has a $5 million cap.

It is unclear, however, whether the president's endorsement would be enough to make the Frist-Breaux legislation the main vehicle for Senate debate on the issue.

In March, Bush said current bills are inadequate. In a speech to the American College of Cardiology, he said any "patients' bill of rights" must have lower caps on damage awards than the Kennedy-McCain bill and include a "strong, binding, independent" review process to keep disputes among patients, doctors and insurers from turning into lawsuits.

Critics say Bush's call for caps on damage awards would protect the industry at the expense of patients.

The president touted as a model a bill that passed in Texas while he was governor. That measure allows patients to choose their own doctors, appeal denials of care and sue their HMOs under limited circumstances.

Cardiology group likes Bush health plan
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Bush says current health care bills inadequate
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White House: George W. Bush

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