John Dingell

Mr. DINGELL

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Frank).

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood).

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1\1/2\ minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sandlin).

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Washington (Mr. Inslee). (Mr. INSLEE asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 3 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood), which is going to be a benefit to both the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Goss) and to myself.

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Turner).

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. McCarthy). (Mrs. McCARTHY of New York asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from California (Mrs. Capps).

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Ford).

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Ganske).

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to my good friend, the gentleman from Washington (Mr. BAIRD). (Mr. BAIRD asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Missouri (Ms. McCarthy). (Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). (Mr. ANDREWS asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from Texas (Mr. Green). (Mr. GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, the advocates of the substitute here, for whom I have enormous respect and affection, are going to talk about only one thing this morning, trial lawyers. Let us talk about the other things that are important, because other issues are being ignored by them. Our bill, the Norwood-Dingell-Ganske bill, guarantees that your health plan will give you the prescription medicines you need. Theirs does not. Our bill guarantees that you will be able to get into an approved clinical trial if you are threatened with serious diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's. Theirs does not. Our bill guarantees that the doctor can be an advocate for a patient, through internal and external appeal of a plan's decision, without any fear of being terminated by the HMO. Their doctor has no such assurance. Their bill allows the HMO to punish your doctor. Our bill guarantees that you will be told when your insurance company offers rewards to health care providers for not providing you with a specialist or giving you cheaper but less effective treatment. Their bill allows HMOs to keep you in the dark. Our bill allows none of these things. These are not the only real differences between the substitutes. Others will be addressed in further detail by different participants in the debate. In the end, the bill offered by my good friends, the gentleman from Oklahoma (Mr. Coburn) and the gentleman from Arizona (Mr. Shadegg), for whom again I repeat I have great respect and affection, is no substitute whatsoever for real managed care reform. Give managed care reform that protects the patient, that protects the doctor, that sees to it that medical necessity is dealt with by the doctor, and that the rights of the patient are assured.

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself 1\1/2\ minutes. (Mr. DINGELL asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to my good friend the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Norwood).

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, if an independent insurance agent assists with the selection or purchase of a plan but is not involved in the medical care decisions, it is not our intent to permit a claim to be brought against that insurance agent. Independent insurance agents do not make medical decisions and therefore should not be liable for harm caused by a decision made by a group health plan. However, Section 302 dictates that claims may be brought against an employer or its employees, if the employer or employee participates in any way in the making of decisions on health care claims. The omission of specific legislative language could not be interpreted to permit a claim against an independent insurance agent if the independent insurance agent is not involved in the making of any actual medical care decisions. If this bill proceeds to conference, we would seek clarification that independent insurance agents are not to be held liable for medical and care decisions made by others. It is the intent of the legislation to limit liability only to those who make medical care decisions. It is not our intent that independent insurance agents could be held liable. Independent insurance agents who work with or on behalf of an employer in helping the employer to select a plan should be subject to the same liability parameters as the employer.

Mr. DINGELL. The answer to the gentleman's question is no. If an independent insurance agent assists with the selection of or purchase of a plan, but is not involved in the medical care decisions, it is not our intent to permit a claim to be brought against the insurance agent, and under our proposal it cannot.

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, will the gentleman yield?

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentleman from New York (Mr. Forbes). (Mr. FORBES asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished gentlewoman from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow). (Ms. STABENOW asked and was given permission to revise and extend her remarks.)

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Utah (Mr. Cook).

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentlewoman from Colorado (Ms. DeGette).

Mr. DINGELL. Mr. Chairman, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Andrews). (Mr. Andrews asked and was given permission to revise and extend his remarks.)