Democrats: Bill would keep HMOs accountable

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democrats touted their health care proposal Saturday -- a bill the president has promised to veto -- saying it would prevent managed care companies from standing alone as the only business organizations that are not held accountable for their "wrongful and negligent acts."

"The best bill, the Norwood-Dingell bill, is endorsed by the American Medical Association and by every state medical society and by hundreds of medical providers and patient organizations," said Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas, in the weekly Democratic radio address on Saturday.

"When you are flat on your back fighting for your life, you and your doctor should not have to fight your insurance company, " he added.

The sponsors of the bill -- including Rep. John Dingell, D-Michigan, and Republican Charlie Norwood of Georgia -- said they had enough votes to pass the bill in the House of Representatives this week.

Bush has threatened to veto the bill, if it passes, warning that it could drive up health care costs and the number of uninsured by permitting high dollar awards in court decisions. The president supports a more restrictive measure, crafted by Rep. Ernest Fletcher, R-Kentucky, that would cap noneconomic damages in federal court at $500,000 and give patients a limited right to sue in state court.

The Democrats called the Fletcher bill "a weaker alternative."

"The Fletcher bill...stacks the deck in favor of insurance companies when you ask for a review of denial of care," Turner said. "It does not prohibit insurance companies from using financial incentives to penalize your doctor for authorizing care. The insurance companies may like the Fletcher bill, but doctors and patients don't."

Turner said the Norwood-Dingell bill was modeled after Texas legislation which then-Gov. George W. Bush never signed.

"Since its enactment, insurance premiums in Texas have risen at less than half the national average," Turner said. He added that the flood of litigation that was predicted by opponents to the legislation has not happened.

"There have been only 17 lawsuits filed in four years," he said.