WASHINGTON,
D.C. – Calling on her constituents to help her end HMO abuses, U.S. Representative
Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) today unveiled a new interactive page on her web
site that will allow her constituents to share their "HMO horror stories"
with her. Schakowsky plans to use these stories while speaking on
the House floor and during news conferences to show her colleagues that
there is an urgent need to pass a strong Patients' Bill of Rights.
On
her new interactive page, Schakowsky invites her constituents to email
her their experiences with HMOs and to sign a petition calling on Congress
to pass the Patients' Bill of Rights, HR 358.
"I
know that in the 9th District, many of you have fought battles with your
HMOs and more often than not, you lost. If you believe that it is time
to stop HMO abuses, the time to act is now. Email me your HMO horror story.
Let me know if you have been denied care, forced to change your doctor
in the middle of treatment, lost coverage, refused access to a specialist
or had to work for days to get what you deserved. Together we can convince
Congress to pass the Patients' Bill of Rights," Schakowsky wrote.
Schakowsky
also joined her Democratic colleagues today in signing a discharge petition
to bring HR 358 to the House floor for immediate consideration.
Schakowsky
said that in Congress there are many bills that claim to offer reform.
Instead, these bills are designed to help the HMOs continue to make record
profits, while cutting care, increasing costs, and limiting services.
"The
millions of HMO patients will not be fooled by phony proposals that do
nothing but keep the status quo. We need to pass real reform, and
HR 358, the Patients' Bill of Rights, is the answer," Schakowsky said.
HR
358 would set quality standards for HMOs and other insurers, ensure that
medical professionals make health care decisions and not the HMO bureaucrats,
and guarantee that HMOs will be held accountable for their decisions in
a court of law.
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