House passes patients rights
The Federal Parliament has approved the first guarantees for patients Managed Care Thursday evening, the new consumers of force against organizations, health maintenance, but their capacity, problems of recourse to the courts, that President Bush has vigorously opposed .Chamber of Deputies after the legislation more closely linked to a party around online voting an agreement at the White House encountered a day earlier Rep. Charles Norwood, R-GA., A conservative Republican, has six years a crusade for the rights of patients.
In this process, the legislature has a fierce competition with the Senate, democratically controlled, clearly authorizes the broadest protection for patients five weeks, and increases the uncertainty of whether a patient’s rights law in Washington this year .
The 226 to 203 votes - without a single GOP defection - approval of the action reflects a quick political victory for Bush, appeared two days ago to the brink of defeat on a topic that polls say is most paramount importance to public opinion.
Do not able to convince moderate Republicans to make a restrictive version of the legislation, the president has a last-minute alliance with Norwood, has become an icon on the issue for many in the GOP house.
House vote
The house of a patient “Bill of Rights, including a 226-203 Thursday night. A” yes “vote is a vote for the bill. The vote” yes “were 5 Democrats, 220 Republicans and 1 independent. Vote “No” were 202 Democrats, 0 Republicans and 1 independent.
Texas: Democrats - Bentsen, N; Doggett, N; Edwards, N; Frost, N; Gonzalez, N; Green, N; Hall, N; Hinojosa, N; Jackson-Lee, N; EB Johnson, N; Lampson, N ; Ortiz, N, Reyes, N; Rodriguez, N; Sandlin, N; more Holm, N; Turner, N. Republicans - Armey, y; Barton, y; Bonilla, y; Brady, y; Combest, y; Culberson, y; DeLay, y; Granger, y; Sam Johnson, Y; Paul, X, Sessions, y; Smith, ; Thornberry, Y.
Under the agreement, people feel that their health plan had stinted leadership would be able to acknowledge the plan in national courts, as Norwood and Democrats have preferred. But consumer complaints success would only up to $ 1.5 million in damages caused most of the time, and they had difficulties, which their case, but one outside the Appeals Chamber has already agreed that their HMO had committed.
Thursday morning, Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney traveled on Capitol Hill to rally deprived of the House of Representatives and the Senate to the Republicans as head of the cheerleader for the transaction.
Still, Thursday evening in the vote on an amendment added that the compromise has proved cliffhanger. It was 218 to 213 and has filed three Democrats only because - Ken Lucas, D-Ky. James A. Traficant Jr., D-Ohio, and Colin Peterson, D-Minn. — And independent H. Virgil Goode Jr., I-VA., Trat 214 Republicans. Immediately thereafter, the GOP lawmakers in chants of “Norwood!”
– And out of the house floor, Norwood and House Republican leader celebrated his unexpected ascension to a question, a perennially favorite Democrats.