President Clinton addresses healthcare professionals Friday in Philadelphia. (AFP)

By Charles Babington
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 10, 1999; Page A4

PHILADELPHIA, April 9 – President Clinton and congressional Democrats hit the road today to pressure Republicans into expanding the rights of patients when dealing with health insurers, an issue on which Democrats believe public opinion is on their side.

Clinton traveled to this birthplace of American independence to renew his call for a Democratic-backed "Patients' Bill of Rights," which would give consumers several new powers, including the right to sue health maintenance organizations for decisions to deny what patients regard as needed care.

Taking a break from the war in Yugoslavia to deal with a favorite domestic issue, the president portrayed Congress's GOP leaders as captives of the insurance industry.

"This is not a partisan issue anywhere in America but Washington, D.C.," Clinton told about 300 people at Philadelphia's 123-year-old Memorial Hall. "That's because the people who are against it – basically the large HMOs, the insurers – have got the ear of the congressional majority. And they have a lot of political influence."

Congressional Republicans lashed back, saying Democratic proposals on patients' rights would add costs and bureaucracy to the health care system. "Republicans are determined to improve the quality, affordability and accessibility of health care in America today," said Rep. J.‚C. Watts (Okla.), chairman of the House Republican Conference. "But first Congress must do no harm."

Clinton's appearance here, coupled with other Democratic rallies and the launching of an Internet petition drive, were intended to boost the Democratic vision of how to protect patients who belong to HMOs – an issue that has stirred considerable interest, and divisions, on Capitol Hill.

Last year the House adopted a more limited GOP "patients' rights" measure, while the Senate squabbled over the question for months without voting on it.

This year the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee already has passed a Republican bill, which does not include a patient's right to sue an HMO. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), a main architect of the legislation approved by that chamber last year, also has pledged to revive the issue.

Major health insurers and employers argue that expanded patients' rights would significantly drive up the cost of health care. But Clinton and congressional Democrats tried to counter such criticisms by citing what the president said was the minimal impact of patient protection measures on insurance costs for federal workers.

About 285 companies provide health coverage for more than 4 million federal workers and their dependents, or 9 million people. Clinton said a new study by the Office of Personnel Management has concluded that those employees will pay only $10 a year more in premiums to gain several of the main benefits called for in the Democratic legislation.

Last year the Clinton administration mandated a number of patient protections for federal employees, including such measures as allowing pregnant women and persons with chronic health problems to retain their doctor even if they have to change health providers.

The new rights for federal employees, however, do not include the right to sue a managed care company for damages allegedly caused by its decisions on medical coverage, a point glossed over in Clinton's speech.

The American Association of Health Plans said today the $10 increase cited by Clinton is misleading because the new protections for federal workers do not address either malpractice suits or the question of who decides medical necessity. The AAHP estimates each of those provisions would increase the yearly price of insurance by an average of $200 per person.

Appearing with Clinton was Joan R. Bleakley of Woodbridge, Va., who lost her left eye because of what she says was an unwarranted delay in proper treatment by her HMO. Bleakley, wearing an eye patch, told the audience that her aneurysm was first misdiagnosed as a "small stroke," and her HMO forced her to wait three weeks before seeing a neurologist.

Staff writer Amy Goldstein in Washington contributed to this report.