Editorial: Patient rights get second life

Monday, Oct. 16, 2000 | 10:15 a.m.

With elections nearing, Congress is close to wrapping up its business for this year so that its members can go home and campaign. Just as it did in 1999 and in the previous year, Congress likely will once again adjourn without passing a patient's bill of rights.

When President Clinton and other Democrats started championing a patient's bill of rights several years ago, Republican leaders in Congress dismissed this as partisan grandstanding. But these same Republican leaders conveniently omitted that there was a growing number of Republicans -- primarily in the House -- who also believed patients should have more protections, including the right to sue health insurers if they have prevented them from receiving needed care. For that matter, last year's vote in the House to approve a patient's bill of rights was decisive -- the final tally was 275-151. Unfortunately not enough Republican senators were willing to rebuff their leadership and overcome objections to the legislation.

So it's hard to blame the Clinton administration for announcing last week that it would use regulations to enact some of the patient protections that the Republican-controlled Senate has refused to pass. Not only would the new rules require HMOs to be more responsive when handling a claim, but they also would require that if a patient appeals a rejection of care, that patient should receive a fast and fair review by independent medical experts.

The new rules, however, won't include the right to sue an HMO. That's why it is essential that a meaningful patient's bill of rights become law. It is hoped that the Republican members of the Senate, in the waning days of this legislative session, can show the same backbone as their brethren in the House by standing up to the powerful insurance lobby and passing a patient's bill of rights.