Letter to the Majority Leader of the Senate on the Patients' Bill of Rights

Dear Senator Lott:

Thank you for your letter regarding the patients' bill of rights. I am pleased to reiterate my commitment to working with you—and all Republicans and Democrats in the Congress— to pass long overdue legislation this year.

Since last November, I have called on the Congress to pass a strong, enforceable, and bipartisan patients' bill of rights. During this time, I signed an Executive Memorandum to ensure that the 85 million Americans in federal health plans receive the patient protections they need, and I have indicated my support for bipartisan legislation that would extend these protections to all Americans. With precious few weeks remaining before the Congress adjourns, we must work together to respond to the nation's call for us to improve the quality of health care Americans are receiving.

As I mentioned in my radio address this past Saturday, ensuring basic patient protections is not and should not be a political issue. I was therefore disappointed by the partisan manner in which the Senate Republican Leadership bill was developed. The lack of consultation with the White House or any Democrats during the drafting of your legislation contributed to its serious shortcomings and the fact it has failed to receive the support of either patients or doctors. The bill leaves millions of Americans without critical patient protections, contains provisions that are more rhetorical than substantive, completely omits patient protections that virtually every expert in the field believes are basic and essential, and includes "poison pill" provisions that have nothing to do with a patients' bill of rights. More specifically, the bill:

Does not cover all health plans and leaves more than 100 million Americans completely unprotected. The provisions in the Senate Republican Leadership bill apply only to self-insured plans. As a consequence, the bill leaves out more than 100 million Americans, including millions of workers in small businesses. This approach contrasts with the bipartisan Kassebaum-Kennedy insurance reform law, which provided a set of basic protections for all Americans.

Lets HMOs, not health professionals, define medical necessity. The external appeals process provision in the Senate Republican Leadership bill makes the appeals process meaningless by allowing the HMOs themselves, rather than informed health professionals, to define what services are medically necessary. This loophole will make it very difficult for patients to prevail on appeals to get the treatment doctors believe they need.

Fails to guarantee direct access to specialists. The Senate Republican Leadership proposal fails to ensure that patients with serious health problems have direct access to the specialists they need. We believe that patients with conditions like cancer or heart disease should not be denied access to the doctors they need to treat their conditions.

Fails to protect patients from abrupt changes in care in the middle of treatment. The Senate Republican Leadership bill fails to assure continuity-of-care protections when an employer changes health plans. This deficiency means that, for example, pregnant women or individuals undergoing care for a chronic illness may have their care suddenly altered mid course, potentially causing serious health consequences.

Reverses course on emergency room protections. The Senate Republican Leadership bill backs away from the emergency room protections that Congress implemented in a bipartisan manner for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in the Balanced Budget Act of 1997. The bill includes a watered-down provision that does not require health plans to cover patients who go to an emergency room outside their network and does not ensure coverage for any treatment beyond an initial screening. These provisions put patients at risk for the huge costs associated with critical emergency treatment.

Allows financial incentives to threaten critical patient care. The Senate Republican Leadership bill fails to prohibit secret financial incentives to providers. This would leave patients vulnerable to financial incentives that limit patient care.

Fails to hold health plans accountable when their actions cause patients serious harm. The proposed per-day penalties in the Senate Republican Leadership bill fail to hold health plans accountable when patients suffer serious harm or even death because of a plan's wrongful action. For example, if a health plan improperly denies a lifesaving cancer treatment to a child, it will incur a penalty only for the number of days it takes to reverse its decision; it will not have to pay the family for all the damages the family will suffer as the result of having a child with a now untreatable disease. And because the plan will not have to pay for all the harm it causes, it will have insufficient incentive to change its health care practices in the future.

Includes "poison pill" provisions that have nothing to do with a patients' bill of rights. For example, expanding Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) before studying the current demonstration is premature, at best, and could undermine an already unstable insurance market. As I have said before, I would veto a bill that does not address these serious flaws. I could not sanction presenting a bill to the American people that is nothing more than an empty promise. At the same time, as I have repeatedly made clear, I remain fully committed to working with you, as well as the Democratic Leadership, to pass a meaningful patients' bill of rights before the Congress adjourns. We can make progress in this area if, and only if, we work together to provide needed health care protections to ensure Americans have much needed confidence in their health care system.

Producing a patients' bill of rights that can attract bipartisan support and receive my signature will require a full and open debate on the Senate floor. There must be adequate time and a sufficient number of amendments to ensure that the bill gives patients the basic protections they need and deserve. I am confident that you and Senator Daschle can work out a process that accommodates the scheduling needs of the Senate and allows you to address fully the health care needs of the American public.

Last year, we worked together in a bipartisan manner to pass a balanced budget including historic Medicare reforms and the largest investment in children's health care since the enactment of Medicaid. This year, we have another opportunity to work together to improve health care for millions of Americans.

I urge you to make the patients' bill of rights the first order of business for the Senate. Further delay threatens the ability of the Congress to pass a bill that I can sign into law this year. I stand ready to work with you and Senator Daschle to ensure that patients—not politics— are our first priority.

Sincerely,

WILLIAM J. CLINTON