Editorial: ‘Bill of rights’ for health care

Monday, Feb. 23, 1998 | 10:22 a.m.

President Clinton took a welcome step Friday when he set up a "bill of rights" for individuals enrolled in federal health care programs. Clinton also called on private insurance companies to follow his lead.

About 80 million Americans will be covered by the president's executive order, meaning that nearly one third of all Americans will have this protection. "But we must not stop here," Clinton said. "We are doing all we can do here with the stroke of a president's pen, but it should be an example that the rest of America should follow."

According to an Associate Press report, the insurance industry isn't planning on endorsing Clinton's plan anytime soon. "If it could be done in a moment and at no cost, I don't think the president would be giving these agencies two years to do it," Bill Gradison, president of the Health Insurance Association of America, said. The group represents 250 insurance companies.

The president's executive order establishes minimum standards for patient care, including:

* Direct access to medical specialists for patients who have serious conditions.

* Emergency room visits must be paid if the visit was believed necessary by a prudent individual.

* Right of appeal to an outside panel if medical coverage is denied.

Some of the president's plans are similar to the managed care reforms Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, was able to shepherd through the 1997 Nevada Legislature. When she talked at the beginning of the legislative session about the need for reform, it seemed a longshot that they would be enacted because of the powerful health insurance lobby.

But Buckley's dogged perseverance paid off and the reforms were signed into law by the governor. Maybe by using the "bully pulpit," Clinton can get Congress to act on his proposals so all Americans can benefit, not just federal employees and their dependents.