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JEFFORDS TO PARTICIPATE IN WHITE HOUSE MEETING ON
PATIENT BILL OF RIGHTS THURSDAY
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Sen. Jim Jeffords, R - Vt., will
participate in a meeting called by President Clinton at the White
House on Thursday, May 11, to discuss the Patients Bill of Rights.
Jeffords is one of four Senators invited to the meeting. The
legislation would grant patients new rights, including the right to
pursue complaints against their HMOs.
Last year the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate
passed two different versions of the Patient Bill of Rights.
Jeffords is one of twelve Senators who are negotiating a final
version of the bill with the House in a conference committee.
"Our progress has been slow but steady," said Jeffords, the
Chairman of the Senate's Health and Education Committee. "But
if President Clinton will meet us halfway, I believe we can enact
this legislation. My goal is to give all Americans a true
Patient Bill of Rights that increases health care quality without
raising the cost of health care and adding people to the ranks of
the uninsured."
The meeting is scheduled for Thursday morning.
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