January 15,1999

Roth: Give Americans More Health Care Protections

Patient Protections Bill to be Introduced Next Week

WASHINGTON -- The Republican Health Care Task Force on Patient Protections held a press conference today to announce that their legislation designed to protect health care consumers will be reintroduced in the 106th Congress. This comprehensive legislation was originally introduced in July, 1998.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman and Task Force Member William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE), made the following remarks:

"Everyone knows how important health care is and what it means to have a family member -- or perhaps even ourselves -- suffer from a serious physical setback. That's why we're here today -- we're here to present a solution that will offer greater peace of mind in troubling times and provide increased confidence in America's health care delivery system.

"The need for patient protections is well understood, and there is wide agreement on many of the things that we can do. What we have crafted and will be shortly introducing is nothing short of an arsenal of common-sense provisions -- common-sense provisions that will protect patients who already have health insurance and that will help the uninsured purchase the insurance they need. I can't overstate how important this is for our families.

"In the last Congress, this critical issue was unfortunately tainted by partisan rhetoric. I believe things can be different this time around. But to succeed, we must pull together, with the same bipartisan spirit that has marked many of our past successes. The American people deserve no less, and the plan we are presenting today is a starting point -- a starting point that I hope will find bipartisan support in the Senate Finance Committee."