SENATE APPROVES PATIENTS-RIGHTS BILL

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The U.S. Senate tonight approved a bill to provide greater protections for consumers enrolled in health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and other managed-care health plans.

Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, praised the bipartisan majority of senators who supported the bill sponsored by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), and John Edwards (D-N.C.).

"This bill would fundamentally change the managed care system for the better," said Janell Mayo Duncan, legislative counsel for Consumers Union. "This bill instills a long-overdue dose of accountability to the system. Under this bill, consumers would have the right to appeal HMO decisions to an independent reviewer, and, as a last resort, they could hold HMOs legally accountable for their actions when they cause harm."

The Senate rejected an alternative bill sponsored by Sens. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and John Breaux (D-La.) that offered fewer protections and weaker liability. President Bush favored the Frist-Breaux bill and threatened to veto the McCain-Kennedy-Edwards bill.

But Consumers Union urged the President to reconsider his stance given tonight's vote.

"This should be a wake-up call to the White House," said Duncan. "The President's veto threat is out of step with the overwhelming support for this bill in the Senate and the public at large. Tonight's bipartisan victory gives this bill a substantial amount of momentum for the months ahead."

Consumers Union said it would continue to press Congress and the White House to support the Senate-approved bill without weakening its provisions or attaching unnecessary items to the bill.

"Today's vote is a milestone, but it isn't a finish line," Duncan said. "We've got a long road ahead of us that runs through the House of Representatives and ends at the president's desk. It should be clear by now that the managed care system is broken to the point that it cannot fix itself. This bill is the only cure for a system that is consumed with cost cutting and blind to the needs of real people. Any bill that offers significantly less than the Senate bill would be virtually worthless to consumers. People covered by HMOs have waited too long for real reform for the government to settle for a bad bill."
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Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, is an independent nonprofit testing, educational and information organization serving only the consumer. We are a comprehensive source of unbiased advice about products and services, personal finance, health, nutrition and other consumer concerns. Since 1936, our mission has been to test products, inform the public and protect consumers