Union Members Urged to Act Quickly to Protect Patients' Rights

CWA President Morton Bahr and other labor leaders are urging union members throughout the country to quickly speak up in support of President Clinton's Patients' Bill of Rights.

Congress, driven by polls that show nearly nine out of 10 Americans favor new protections from the bureaucracy of managed care plans, is expected to pass something - but not the kind of real reform that is needed, Bahr said.

"We can change that, and get a law that truly provides a patient's bill of rights, but only if we act quickly and decisively," Bahr said.

Any member can participate by contacting their member of the House or Senate by using the AFL-CIO's toll-free number - 1-888-898-7717.

The House of Representatives has already adopted a weakened bill (H.R. 3605) and the Senate is expected to pass a similarly diluted bill (S. 2330) sometime after returning from its summer recess on Aug. 31 and before Oct. 9, the targeted adjournment date.

The patients' bill of rights legislation supported by the Clinton administration, CWA and the AFL-CIO are S. 1890, in the Senate, and H.R. 3605, in the House of Representatives.

"CWA members need to act to counter the millions of dollars the health insurance industry is pouring into their lobbying effort, which is reminiscent of the misleading 'Harry and Louise' campaign that killed national health insurance," Bahr said.

CWA Secretary-Treasurer Barbara J. Easterling, who has responsibility for the union's legislative-political activities, is also urging activists to contact their senators and representatives.

"Time is definitely running out for us on this issue and we must make our views known," Easterling said. She pointed out that a National Day of Action is planned for Sept. 10, and is urging CWA local leaders to participate in activities coordinated by AFL-CIO state federations and central labor councils.

Republicans have latched onto the issue with their own watered down versions of a patient's bills of rights as a result of election-year polling that has shown a majority of Americans support an overhaul of managed care plans. The Republican plan, which is supported by the insurance industry, would help only one-third of the 148 million Americans who would benefit from the Democrats' version of patient protections, according to Lizette Alvarez, writing in the July 16 edition of The New York Times.

The AFL-CIO has launched a million-dollar ad blitz and grassroots work site organizing effort in more than 50 congressional districts to force lawmakers to vote for real reform, rather than the weak Republican substitute.

Bahr urged CWA local leaders and members to participate in the AFL-CIO effort by contacting state and local federations to track their efforts on this issue. "We all need to get as involved as possible," Bahr said.

This is a fight that is winnable, he said, pointing out that the House passed the GOP version of a patient's bill of rights by an extremely narrow margin of 216-210. "There's a grand opportunity here to have a major impact," Bahr said.

The patients' bill of rights, supported by labor and President Clinton, and sponsored in Congress by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Thomas Daschle (D-S.D.) and Reps. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Greg Ganske (R-Iowa), would guarantee patients covered by health maintenance organizations many protections. These protections include:

• The right to have doctors, not insurance company cost-cutters, make treatment decisions;
  
• The right to see specialists;
  
• The right to emergency room care without prior approval;
  
• The right to appeal denial of care to independent authorities, and
  
• The right to sue managed care firms when care is denied.