Patients' rights talks between White House, Senate Democrats stuck on lawsuit ground rules
Thu May 16, 9:47 PM ET
By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent
WASHINGTON - Despite months of private negotiations, the White House and key Senate Democrats remain unable to agree on compromise patients' rights legislation, officials said Thursday, the effort hung up on ground rules to cover lawsuits against HMOs.
Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said in an interview this week it was likely that "sometime real soon" he would formally name a larger group of senators to try and work out a compromise directly with members of the House.
That would signal effectively an end to the unusual, secretive series of talks over the past several months that were blessed by Bush, Daschle and House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., as the best hope for an agreement.
Top White House aides Josh Bolton and Nicholas Calio have met a number of times since last year with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., joined at times by Sens. John Edwards, D-N.C., and John McCain, R-Ariz. While Bush has not involved himself in the talks, Kennedy has talked by phone with White House chief of staff Andrew Card.
Even so, the two sides have been unable to bridge differences over conditions under which lawsuits may be filed against HMOs, the rules governing the cases, and — particularly — the amount of damages that aggrieved patients could win.
Officials on both sides said that barring a last-minute breakthrough, the issue probably would descend into election-year finger-pointing, a process that seemed to be starting.
"I hope an agreement is possible that puts the rights of patients before those of HMOs. But after months of talks with the White House, we've reached the 11th hour with little sign of progress from the administration," Kennedy said in a statement.
Scott McClellan, a White House spokesman, countered that the talks had resulted in "tremendous progress, and the president is continuing to reach out because he wants to pass legislation with strong patient protections this year."
Edwards said in an interview he still hopes for an agreement with the White House, "I still haven't given up," he said.
And an aide to McCain said the Arizona Republican successfully urged Daschle to hold off on his move for a few days to allow for one final stab at compromise.
In general, Kennedy and the Democrats, backed by their political allies the trial lawyers, favor a more robust ability to sue, with uncapped damages for pain and suffering. They argue that without a strong right to sue, patient protections found elsewhere in the legislation are of limited value.
Republicans, who receive campaign support from the HMOs, generally favor capped damages. They argue that if insurance companies are exposed to frivolous lawsuits and unlimited damages, the cost of coverage will skyrocket.
At one point in the talks, the two sides discussed a two-tiered approach to caps under which some patients could sue for a smaller amount of damages, and others could win a larger, but still limited, amount. That potential compromise fell apart.
The patients' rights bill is of particular symbolic importance to Daschle, who made it the Democrats' first order of business last summer after they gained control of the Senate in a midyear switch in power. The measure cleared on June 29 on a vote of 59-36.
The Republican-controlled House approved a different version several weeks later, voting on Aug. 2 for legislation that Bush supported with a more restricted right to sue.
The vote was 226-203, largely along party lines.
Ironically, the two bills are virtually identical in terms of the patient protections designed to combat HMO horror stories, including coverage for emergency room care, treatment by medical specialists and access to government-sponsored clinical trials.
story.news.yahoo.com
I loved this part.....
"In general, Kennedy and the Democrats, backed by their political allies the trial lawyers, favor a more robust ability to sue, with uncapped damages for pain and suffering. They argue that without a strong right to sue, patient protections found elsewhere in the legislation are of limited value." Makes us all want to get sick soon....
So we can look forward to the lawsuits. JMHO |
