-----Original Message-----
From: Virtual Majordomo Account [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Justice For All Moderator
Sent: Friday, May 19, 2000 6:26 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Misleading Ads on Patients' Rights.
Justice For All
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Misleading Ads on Patients' Rights
Jeff Kirsch, with Families USA - [log in to unmask], writes:
Friends: The Business Roundtable, which is made up of the CEOs of big
businesses, is running full-page newspaper ads to thank U.S. Senators
for
voting "right" in opposing a strong Patients' Bill of Rights. Right now,
the
ads are running in Delaware, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Pennsylvania,
Tennessee, and Washington. We assume that you'll see more of these kinds
of
ads from the HMO and managed care industry, and their friends, as
congressional races heat up.
The ads are being placed in support of Republican Senators who are in
tight
election races and who voted for the sham Senate bill on patients'
rights -- a
bill that protects HMOs, not patients.
Clearly, advocates for patients will never have the funds to compete
with the
insurance industry and their partners in the business community, but we
can:
talk to our friends and neighbors and "truth squad" these misleading
ads;
write letters-to-the-editor, and meet with the editor or reporters,
criticizing these ads; call into radio shows to raise the issue; make
sure
questions about patients' rights (and other critical health issues) get
raised
at politicians' town meetings or candidate forums; and create flyers or
other
materials to use at public events to get others to speak out, too!
These ads are supporting Senators who voted against virtually every
amendment
in the Senate that would have improved the bill and protected patients.
To the
Business Roundtable and the HMOs, a "right" vote is a vote that:
o limits the few weak protections approved by the Senate to only
one-third
of Americans who get employer-provided health coverage, leaving the rest
unprotected;
o lets patients get only a very limited review of the HMO's
decision-making.
The HMO would pick the person who would conduct the review, and the
reviewer
could only decide whether the HMO followed its own internal rules -- not
whether the patient actually needed the care;
o refuses to hold the HMOs accountable for their mistakes as doctors
and
hospitals are, and that prevents patients from going to court to get the
help
they need;
o does not give patients the right to see out-of-network providers or
specialists, even when it is recommended by their primary care doctor.
The HMO insurance industry and their friends, hoping for a Congress
that's
"industry-friendly" and looking to reward members of Congress who voted
with
them, will continue to try to confuse voters during this election year.
They
will spend a lot of money to make voters think the Senate's sham bill is
a
real solution. We need to be alert to these efforts, and do what we can
to
make it clear to the public who's really on the side of patients and
who's
doing the will of the HMOs and the insurance companies on the patients'
rights
issue.
For more information on the patients' rights debate, go to "Managed Care
Central" on the Families USA Website: http://familiesusa.org.
You can see the Business Roundtable press release about their ads at:
http://www.brt.org/press.cfm/425
Jeff Kirsch, Deputy Executive Director
Families USA - The Voice for Health Care Consumers
1334 G St., NW
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: 202-628-3030 Fax: 202-347-2417
[log in to unmask]
www.familiesusa.org
--
Fred Fay
Chair, Justice For All
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http://www.jfanow.org
Register to Vote Online at http://www.fec.gov/votregis/vr.htm
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