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CNN Live At Daybreak

CNN Answers Viewer E-mail About Patients' Bill of Rights

Aired June 22, 2001 - 08:36   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: We're glad to see that you all have been writing in. You've got some questions about the patients' bill of rights, which is shaping up to be one of the most hard-fought pieces of legislation for the Bush administration.

COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Competing measures are up for debate. There's a Republican version and a Democratic version.

CNN's getting e-mails with questions about them. We've asked you to send them, and you have. We thank you for that. Now we've got some answers for you.

Our medical correspondent Rea Blakey is in Washington for us now.

LIN: Good morning, Rea.

REA BLAKEY, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, ladies, how are you?

LIN: Good.

We've got the first question here from Cheryl Conrad. And she is asking here "Is it just a scare tactic, or will this bill allow employees to sue employers?" And then she goes on with what issues, and if so, what effect will this have on employer health benefits?

BLAKEY: Well, there's a very short and easy answer to that particular question. Employees could only sue their employer under the patients' bill of rights, in both versions, both the Republican and the Democratic versions, if, in fact, the employer played a role in making a medical decision that resulted in injury or death. So there is just a very small opportunity for employers to be sued under both versions of the bills.

MCEDWARDS: Rea, there have also been questions, as you know, on Capitol Hill, about what either of these plans would do to premiums. We've got a question relating to that from Bob Burynski: "How could we believe that the patients' bill of rights won't cause many thousands of people to be left without insurance if companies decide that it is no longer a profitable line of business?" What are people saying about that?

BLAKEY: Well, the opponents to the McCain-Edwards-Kennedy bill are suggesting that premiums would skyrocket. However, an independent review by the congressional budget office indicated that under McCain- Edwards, insurance premiums after five years, when the entire bill would be in phase, would be 4.2 percent, and under the Republican version the premiums would increase after five years 2.9 percent.

I think one thing to keep in mind here is insurance companies, on average, their premiums last year averaged about an 8 percent increase over last year. So when you look at in context, it doesn't seem to be so startling.

MCEDWARDS: So 4.2 percent compared with 8 percent is not as big a deal as people might think.

BLAKEY: There's a point of reference there, exactly.

MCEDWARDS: Got you. Thanks.

LIN: Kyle in Long Beach, California, is up awfully early, and he asks, "How will the proposed patients' bill of rights affect people on Medicare and Medicaid?"

BLAKEY: It really shouldn't have any effect whatsoever. At this point, you can sue the federal government in that regard, and the patients' bill of right looks specifically at private insurance. There are some 170 million Americans who have private insurance plans, and this bill is directed towards those individuals.

MCEDWARDS: Rea, this one from Graham Lee in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He says that he would like to know if the rights, responsibilities or liabilities of health care providers -- meaning doctors, nurses and surgeons -- will change under the proposed legislation. That's a good question.

BLAKEY: There are some specific caveats. I'll just mention a couple of them, because there is a great deal of information in both these bills. But for example, primary care physicians could no longer deny access to a specialist for a patient. That would be something you wouldn't have to haggle so much over. Also, women wouldn't necessarily need a referral, for example, to see an OB or a GYN. That's something that a lot of people have great difficulty with. Why can't I just go to the doctor of my choice; why do I have to wait for a referral? Both of those issues would be changed, and that would affect the way a health care provider would deal with a patient specifically.

LIN: Thanks so much, Rea Blakey, for joining us this morning and answering those questions.

Thanks to our audience, too, for writing them in.

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