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--> --> Bush pushes alternate patients' rights bill WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush urged Congress today to pass a patients' rights bill before the end of the year, but said he will fight proposals that open the door to unnecessary lawsuits against HMOs. "The idea is to serve more patients, not to create more lawsuits in America," he said. Bush praised a bill sponsored by Sens. John Breaux, D-La., Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and James Jeffords, an independent from Vermont, that is an alternative to a Democratic health care proposal. The Democratic plan, which senators will begin to debate later this week, would rewrite 27 years of rules that now protect HMOs and insurers from patient complaints and lawsuits. Republicans, who have vowed to scuttle the legislation, contend it would open the gates for numerous lawsuits that would threaten small businesses. "Before this year is out, I want to sign into law a patients' bill of rights," Bush said at a work force conference. The president said that with a proper review process, "most disagreements will not wind up in court." Many small-business owners are worried about the Democratic plan. "I don't want to stop offering benefits," says Philip Tredway, the owner of an Erie, Pa., plastics company that has 55 employees. But, he worries, if the Democratic bill becomes law "I'll have to deal with out-of-control costs and the potential that my company will be hit with a business-killing lawsuit." The bill's sponsors disagree, saying the legislation would shield employers from lawsuits unless they directly helped make a decision against a patient's interest. "We're very specific in the bill," said Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., a co-sponsor with Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and John McCain, R-Ariz. "There's actually a sentence in the bill that says employers may not be held liable under this bill with that one exception." The bill would provide a slate of guarantees for patients, including emergency care, access to obstetricians and gynecologists and payment for costs associated with clinical trials. Against the Senate GOP leaders' wishes, the Democrats would let patients sue insurance companies in either federal or state courts for a range of damages, including punitive ones. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., said he is determined to get a patients' rights bill through the Senate, despite the Democrats' slim majority, and threatened to hold lawmakers in Washington through the July Fourth recess if necessary. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing