Patient Advocacy Group To Launch Targeted Ad Campaign on Patients’ Bill of Rights For Immediate Release September 13, 2000 Contact: Camille Sorosiak (301) 897-2620 Nancey McCann (703) 591-2220 Richard Green (202) 789-5170 Patient Advocacy Group To Launch Targeted Ad Campaign on Patients’ Bill of Rights Washington, D.C. — The Patient Access Coalition and the American Medical Association announced today that they will launch a national TV advertising campaign in support of Senate passage of a real patients’ bill of rights. The ads will appear initially in Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Washington State, and Washington, D.C. on Thursday, September 14. The campaign represents the beginning of a major push by the Patient Access Coalition to persuade U.S. senators that voters want a real patients’ bill of rights passed before Congress adjourns. The Senate missed the opportunity earlier this year to pass a real patients’ bill of rights — a bill similar to that passed by the House by a bipartisan majority last fall. Instead, some senators have chosen to hide behind a bill that is all headlines and little substance — an HMO protection act. According to a Luntz/Laszlo poll, 87 percent of registered voters believe that it is important that Congress enact a patients’ bill of rights this year. The Patient Access Coalition is encouraging those senators not to let their last vote on patients rights be their final vote. "The Patient Access Coalition has been fighting for nearly seven years to ensure that patients in managed care plans are guaranteed choice and access to specialty care and the ability to hold HMOs accountable for their medical decisions," said George A. Beller, M.D., F.A.C.C., president of the American College of Cardiology. "It is time for the U.S. Senate to stop listening to the insurance industry and to start listening to patients, doctors, and other health care professionals fighting to ensure that all patients are guaranteed basic protections." The Patient Access Coalition represents 67 patient, doctor and health care provider organizations fighting for the enactment of comprehensive and meaningful patient protections this year. ### [Home Page] [What's New] [Quality Medical Care] [Principles of PAC] [Member Organizations] [Glossary] [Coalition Reports & Press Releases] www.patientaccess.com Copyright © 1998-2001 Patient Access Coalition