As House Leadership Tries To Kill Real Patient Protections Bipartisan Compromise Bill Builds Support

With next week's vote on managed care consumer protections imminent, the House Leadership is using poison pills, gamesmanship and stalling to kill the one patient protection bill with bipartisan backing, according to the health care consumer group Families USA.

"We have a bill that has support from both sides of the aisle. There have been numerous hearings on consumer protections. The public and the insurance industry has been fully heard on this issue. We now need a vote on a clean bill," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. "Last minute alternatives, bogged down with proposals that haven't been fully debated in the House, such as medical savings accounts, will destroy any chance of passing real patient protections."

H.R. 2723, the Bipartisan Patient Protection Bill, sponsored by Representatives Charlie Norwood (R-GA) and John Dingell (D-MI), has support from members on both sides of the aisle and over 300 groups representing every major provider, consumer, disease and disability group in the country. The legislation addresses the very specific problem of patient protections in managed care.

While Families USA applauds the renewed attention on the uninsured, Pollack believes that this is an effort to undermine the passage of real patient protections.

"I would love to talk to the House Leadership about expanding access to coverage, but that is not what this debate is about," added Pollack. "Let's get the issue of patient protections behind us, so together we can develop real proposals that will actually address the problem of the uninsured. I only hope the House Leadership is still interested in talking about the uninsured after next week's vote."

See Fact Sheets on The Poison Pills

###

Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

1201 New York Avenue NW, Suite 1100 · Washington, DC 20005
202-628-3030 · Email: info@familiesusa.org · www.familiesusa.org