STATEMENT OF SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY ON THE
URGENT NEED TO PASS
MANAGED CARE REFORM
April 7, 2000
For Immediate Release
Contact: Jim Manley
(202)
224-2633
Seven months have elapsed since the House of Representatives passed the
bi-partisan Norwood-Dingell bill to end insurance company and HMO abuses,
and more than six months have passed since House and Senate conferees were
appointed to prepare the final version of this important measure.
Today, I am releasing a new study by the Minority Staff of the Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee that documents how devastating
this long delay has been for millions of Americans and their families, and
how urgent it is for the House-Senate conference to complete its work as
soon as possible.
Drawing on data gathered by the University of California School of
Public Health and the Harvard School of Public Health, the report
documents unacceptably high numbers of patients who are denied needed
care, who suffer increased pain, or whose health has seriously declined
because too many HMOs and insurance companies put profits ahead of
patients.
According to the study, 59,000 patients each day -- 22 million patients
a year -- report added pain and suffering as the result of the actions of
their health plans. Large numbers of patients have specialty referrals
delayed or denied. Others are forced to change doctors. Still others are
forced to take prescription drugs that are different from the drugs their
doctor prescribed.
In addition to patients' reports of significant problems as the result
of actions of their health plans, thousands of physicians report seeing
patients every day whose health has seriously declined as the result of
abuses such as the failure to cover recommended prescription drugs, denial
of needed diagnostic tests and procedures, and unwillingness to allow
referrals for specialty care.
This study provides powerful new evidence of the need for Congress to
move promptly to pass a strong Patient's Bill of Rights. Millions of
families are suffering because of the failure of Congress to act. Families
across America deserve protection, and it is time for Congress to fulfill
its responsibility and see that they get it. | 