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   (Mr. GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

   Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Colorado that said he would bury us as Democrats, I guess going on their experience, they buried managed care reform for 2 years, so they have that kind of experience.

   Let me talk this morning about some ads that are in the Washington publications that talk about how the Dingell bill will be more expensive. Well, let me give my colleagues the Texas experience. We have had managed care reform in Texas for 2 years and the reason it is going to be more expensive is that they are going to have to start paying claims. They have lost half of the appeals process, so I would much rather have better than a flip-of-the-coin odds if I am going to managed care for health care.

   Mr. Speaker, a 500 percentage may be great if one is a baseball player who will be making $10 million, but when one is deciding whether one is going to have adequate health care, I would rather have a better percentage than a flip of the coin. They are actually going to have to pay those claims.

   We need a real patients' bill of rights that has everything in it: accountability, access to specialists, a real appeals process, and no gag rules and medical necessity. That is why I do not think they are going to have the experience in burying this bill any more.

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