August 2001 • Volume 7 • Number 8
FPs, Academy go to bat for patient protection bill
BY PAULA BINDER
The Academy and its members kicked into high gear to support the Bipartisan Patient Protection Act, S. 1052, in the weeks right before the Senate adopted the bill 59 - 36 on June 29. The bill was introduced by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass."Nearly 400 AAFP members went to the Academy's 'Speak Out' Web site and sent letters to senators in support of S. 1052 during the pivotal two-week period that the bill was being debated," said Kevin Burke, director of the Government Relations Division. "Their letters made a difference, and they showed that family physicians are opinion leaders in the lawmakers' communities."
AD SUPPORTS BILL
The Academy's support for the bill was also crystal clear during those critical weeks. "It's time to pass a real Patients' Bill of Rights that holds managed care companies accountable and puts patients and their doctors back in charge of health care," trumpeted an AAFP ad that premiered in the beltway publications Roll Call and Congress Daily AM June 21, the day after the Senate began debating the bill. Challenging senators to pass the bill before the Independence Day recess, the ad made four more appearances June 25 - 27 in those publications and CQ Daily Monitor.
"As doctors, we are fighting hard for our patients," FP Darlene Lawrence, M.D., top photo, told reporters at a June 20 press conference on the Senate lawn. She called on lawmakers to fight hard, too, by passing the patient protection act. Standing by Lawrence, from left, are: Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Tom Harkin, D-Iowa; and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. Bottom photo: Signs at the press event also encouraged the bill's passage."We've heard from Sen. McCain's staff, who told us the senator thought the ad was particularly effective," says Burke. "They encouraged us to do a similar ad for the House." (See "At Press Time ..." on page 1.)
A PATIENT'S STORY
On June 20, the media heard a specific example of how a patient's health can be damaged by managed care. On that day, family physician Darlene Lawrence, M.D., of Washington spoke at a press conference on the Senate lawn that was organized by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and attended by him and six other Democratic senators.
Lawrence told the story of her young patient Joshua, who at age 3 didn't have intelligible speech -- in large part because of insurance company delays and denials of care for ear infections since infancy. "As a result of the insurance company's actions, Joshua's development is severely delayed, despite his parents' and my best efforts," Lawrence said.
"This little boy's future has been put at risk," she said. "His parents and I are understandably angry and disgusted with the injustice brought on by a broken system."
Lawrence called on senators to hold insurance companies accountable. "As doctors, we are fighting hard for our patients," she said. "We need you to fight hard for them, too -- this legislation will do just that."
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2001 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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