Fw: Health-Care Suits Against Employers

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----- Original Message ----- From: MARTHA

Tony Lambert

Cc: ParfumGigi@...

Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2001 3:43 PM

Subject: Health-Care Suits Against Employers

JUNE 27, 16:08 EST

GOP Patients' Rights Effort Nixed

By ANJETTA McQUEEN Associated Press Writer

Sen. Kennedy, D-Mass. and LukerAP/Joe Marquette [23K]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans lost an effort Wednesday to shield small-business owners from workers' health care lawsuits, as Democrats pushed their patients' rights bill and President Bush called for compromise.

The vote was 53-45 against an amendment by Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., that would have excluded employers with fewer than 50 employees from lawsuits filed by workers or family members covered by employer-sponsored health insurance.

The vote came as the White House accused Democrats of trying to force a presidential veto of patients' rights legislation. Bush, meeting with Republicans at the White House, praised a bipartisan substitute introduced by House lawmakers who, like Bush, want limits on patient lawsuits.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa., left, patients advocate Dart, center, and Sen. Wellstone, D-Minn. AP/Joe Marquette [26K]

Bush cast the new bill, written by Reps. Ernie Fletcher, R-Ky., , R-Conn., and Collin , D-Minn., as a compromise and said alternatives working their way through the House and Senate would ``run up the cost of health insurance for American workers and conceivably cost millions of people their health insurance.''

``I can't accept that kind of legislation,'' Bush said. Asked about the politics of a possible veto on such popular legislation, Bush said he trusts Democrats are working in good faith and added, ``I also think the American people will respect a president who stands on principle.''

The bill being advanced by Senate Democrats includes a broad slate of medical rights and court remedies for patients in HMOs and other health plans.

On Tuesday, the Democrats and a handful of Republican allies beat back a proposal to protect all employers from lawsuits. Republicans also had failed last week in a bid to attach a health care tax break to the legislation.

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass.AP/Joe Marquette [37K]

Moderate lawmakers from both parties are trying to bridge the gap between the Democratic majority and the White House on patients' rights.

Under a compromise being outlined Wednesday, patients would be able to sue employers in limited circumstances. The deal could signal a smoother passage of a patients' bill.

Most Republicans have opposed such lawsuits since debate over patients' rights began five years ago. Bush has threatened to veto the Democratic bill on grounds it would encourage lawsuits.

Democrats are trying to pass a bill that guarantees medical treatments for patients in HMOs and other employer-sponsored health plans. The bill also would allow for appeals, and lawsuits, if a patient is injured or dies due to a health plan's decision to deny coverage.

Senators participate in 'Patients' Bill of Rights' rallyAP/Joe Marquette [23K]

Proposed Republican changes up for voting Wednesday include one that would protect health plans from being sued over treatments that have been explicitly excluded from a coverage contract.

For instance, if a plan expressly says it will not pay for organ transplants or some other procedure, the patient could not use that denial as a basis for legal action.

Late Wednesday, Democrats mounted a challenge to that plan, saying that patients should have some recourse against flawed contracts.

On Tuesday, Senate advocates defeated a proposed ban on lawsuits against employers, prevailing over Republican predictions that businesses would cancel insurance rather than risk legal liability.

``The clear momentum is with us in the Senate,'' said Sen. , D-N.C., an author of the Democratic legislation in the Senate.

In the Senate, the liability issue has emerged as a leading point of contention, particularly since several years of fierce political debate have produced broad agreement on the type of protections patients should be offered.

said such an agreement could possibly be offered as an amendment, when debate resumes. He said it could keep at least a dozen senators from voting for the kind of wholesale changes sought by the White House.

Meanwhile, House Republicans warmed to the idea of lawsuits, putting forward a measure that would allow people to sue HMOs in state courts — where damage awards tend to be larger — under limited circumstances.

House GOP leaders hope to attract enough support for the measure to prevent passage of legislation patterned after the pending Senate bill. House action is not expected until after Congress returns from a July Fourth recess.

So far, Republican opponents have won one change to the Senate bill.

Sen. Bond, R-Mo., persuaded his colleagues to amend the bill so that the lawsuit provision would be canceled if federal research ever proves that the patients' rights legislation caused at least 1 million people to lose their health insurance.

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On the Net:

The bill, S. 1052, can be found at http://thomas.loc.gov

Martha Murdock, DirectorNational Silicone Implant FoundationDallas, Texas Headquarters

Purposes for which the Corporation (NSIF) is organized are to perform the charitable activities within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code Section 501©(3) and Texas Tax Code Section 11.18 ©(1).Specifically, the Corporation is organized for the purposes of education and research of Silicone-related disease.