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Patients' Rights Update

On Thursday, Rep. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rep. John Shadegg (R-AZ), along with Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) and Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-TX), announced their intentions to introduce compromise patients' rights legislation. Speaker Hastert tasked Reps. Shadegg and Coburn several weeks ago to develop a compromise proposal that could pass both the House and Senate. Now, with a lame duck session imminent, it seems they believe they have enough time to move this legislation.

However, it is still likely that a patients' bill of rights will fall victim to election-year politics. The House GOP announcement came hours before President Clinton held a press conference criticizing the GOP for, among other things, not passing a patients' bill of rights this year. Indeed, an aide to Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-GA), author of the House-passed bill, termed both the GOP's announcement and President Clinton's press conference as "political grandstanding." It remains to be seen if the Coburn-Shadegg compromise is meant to be used as political cover or if the House is serious about trying to move this bill.

The fate of this bill also rests with the Senate, and more specifically Senator Don Nickles (R-OK), chair of the House-Senate conference committee. While GOP staff have indicated their willingness to consider whatever compromise proposals are developed by their House colleagues, they have made it clear that the Senate's priorities for the rest of the 106th Congress remain the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education appropriations bill, the large tax package that includes Medicare and Medicaid provider "givebacks," and bankruptcy reform.

While language has not been introduced, it appears that the Coburn-Shadegg compromise will retain the core patient protections found in Norwood-Dingell. The most substantive change in the bill is new liability provisions. This new liability provision will require patients to completely exhaust the internal and external appeals process before they have a right to sue HMOs for coverage denials.

We will continue to monitor these developments and update you as events warrant.