Editorial: Awestruck by aura of West Wing

Friday, Aug. 3, 2001 | 4:49 a.m.

Rep. Charlie Norwood demonstrated last week that he cared more about protecting the president's political hide than he did about protecting the rights of patients. Norwood, a Georgia Republican, for years had railed against HMOs, calling for sweeping patient protections that included the right to sue a health insurer if its actions harmed an individual. In the end, though, all that tough talk proved to be empty rhetoric. When President Bush leaned on Norwood to weaken his patients' bill of rights, the former dentist meekly consented. The defection of Norwood, who many other Republicans turned to for advice on a patients' bill of rights, resulted in a lemming-like spectacle. Wavering Republicans promptly followed Norwood's lead, helping the House pass Thursday a weaker patients' bill of rights, one that doesn't afford the same legal rights to patients as does the Senate version.

Not only did Bush pressure Norwood, but the president also flattered the congressman, taking advantage of his fondness for him. "I don't make any secret about it -- I love the man," the smitten Norwood gushed on Thursday. Well, at least now we understand that he is a man who is more committed to the president than he is to the principles behind a patients' bill of rights, which was to make HMOs accountable for their actions.

Bush and his advisers repeatedly invited Norwood to the White House, buttering him up like a Thanksgiving turkey. An anecdote from a Washington Post story Friday noted one of those instances where the regal trappings of the White House were used to maximum effect. On Wednesday afternoon, as both Norwood and the White House were close to a deal, Bush had Norwood come to the Oval Office, seating Norwood in one of the high-back chairs that usually are reserved for heads of state. All that flattery and attention was just too much for Norwood to resist, as he shook the president's hand to seal the deal -- simultaneously selling out fellow Republicans and Democrats who had backed his previous legislation.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., voted in favor of the watered-down patients' bill of rights, but Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., didn't. Berkley noted that what actually ended up passing should have been dubbed an "HMO bill of rights." It's such a shame since the Senate already had passed a strong patients' bill of rights, and the votes were there in the House to pass the same legislation, a fact that terrified Bush, who didn't want to veto legislation that has such overwhelming public support. Instead of finally getting a meaningful patients' bill of rights into law, prospects are dim that the Senate and House will both agree on a measure that Bush would sign into law. That's why Norwood's retreat is both pitiful and tragic.