III 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 273 

Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to health care rights. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2019 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. BALDWIN, 

Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. CARDIN, 

Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. DUCKWORTH, 

Mr. BROWN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MARKEY, and Mrs. 

FEINSTEIN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to health 

care rights. 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that all 

2 people of the United States have the right— 

3 (1) to affordable health insurance coverage, in4 cluding— 

5 (A) the right of individuals with pre-exist6 ing conditions to secure health insurance with 

7 the same terms, benefits, and price as individ8 uals who do not have pre-existing conditions; 


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•SRES 273 IS 

1 (B) the right to a comprehensive set of es2 sential health benefits in the individual and 

3 small group markets; 

4 (C) the right to stay on a parent’s policy 

5 until age 26 for young adults who meet certain 

6 requirements; 

7 (D) the right to keep health coverage after 

8 getting sick, even if the individual made an 

9 honest mistake on his or her insurance applica10 tion; 

11 (E) the right to use an individual’s own re12 sources to purchase and pay for treatment or 

13 services; and 

14 (F) the right to a cap on the yearly 

15 deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs an in16 dividual is required to pay for covered services 

17 under a health insurance plan; 

18 (2) to coverage and access to health care serv19 ices, including— 

20 (A) the right to health insurance coverage 

21 regardless of an individual’s pre-existing med22 ical conditions or health status; 

23 (B) the right to certain preventive 

24 screenings without paying out-of-pocket fees or 

25 copayments; 


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•SRES 273 IS 

1 (C) the right to health insurance that pro2 vides value relative to the premium cost; 

3 (D) the right to be held harmless from sur4 prise medical bills; 

5 (E) the right to coverage of mental health 

6 and substance abuse services with no annual or 

7 lifetime limits (including behavioral health 

8 treatment, mental and behavioral health inpa9 tient services, substance use disorder treat10 ment); 

11 (F) the right to mental health and sub12 stance abuse benefits without financial, treat13 ment, or care management limitations that only 

14 apply to such benefits; 

15 (G) the right to access all smoking ces16 sation medications that are approved by the 

17 Food and Drug Administration; 

18 (H) the right to choose a provider, and to 

19 receive an accurate list of all participating pro20 viders; 

21 (I) the right to access doctors, specialists, 

22 and hospitals; 

23 (J) the right to emergency medical services 

24 without— 


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•SRES 273 IS 

1 (i) preauthorization for emergency 

2 services; 

3 (ii) extra administrative hurdles for 

4 out-of-network emergency services; or 

5 (iii) higher cost-sharing for out-of-net6 work emergency services than in-network 

7 emergency services; 

8 (K) the right to affordable medications; 

9 (L) the right to physical, mental, and oral 

10 care; 

11 (M) the right to a treatment plan from 

12 provider for a complex or serious medical condi13 tion; 

14 (N) the right to go directly to a women’s 

15 health care specialist (including obstetricians 

16 and gynecologists) without a referral for routine 

17 and preventive health care services; 

18 (O) the right to a full scope of reproduc19 tive health services, including contraceptive 

20 care, pregnancy-related care, prenatal care, mis21 carriage management, family planning services, 

22 abortion care, labor and delivery services, and 

23 postnatal care; 


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1 (P) the right to breastfeeding support, 

2 counseling, and equipment (including manual 

3 and electric pumping equipment); 

4 (Q) the right to prescription medications 

5 and medical and surgical services related to 

6 gender transition; 

7 (R) the right to try investigational drugs; 

8 (S) the right to a second medical opinion; 

9 (T) the right to home care services; 

10 (U) the right to a full scope of hospice and 

11 palliative care, and end-of-life options; and 

12 (V) the right of pediatric patients to a full 

13 scope of services offered to adult patients; 

14 (3) to health information and records privacy; 

15 (4) to explanations of coverage decisions, in16 cluding— 

17 (A) the right to an explanation and appeal 

18 if a plan denies payment for a medical treat19 ment or service; 

20 (B) the right to an internal appeal of pay21 ment decisions of private health plans if the 

22 health plan refuses to make a payment; 

23 (C) the right to a review by an outside re24 view, by an independent organization; and 


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1 (D) the right to complain, through griev2 ances processes; 

3 (5) to transparency, including— 

4 (A) the right to an easy-to-understand 

5 summary of benefits and coverage; 

6 (B) the right to at least 30 days’ notice if 

7 an insurer cancels coverage; 

8 (C) the right to clear justification and ex9 planation for premium increases that are unrea10 sonable; 

11 (D) the right to know how an enrollee’s 

12 plan pays its providers; 

13 (E) the right to give informed consent and 

14 understanding about medical conditions, risks 

15 and benefits of treatment, and appropriate al16 ternatives; 

17 (F) the right to know how drug companies 

18 set drug prices; and 

19 (G) the right to know the amount of 

20 money pharmacy benefit managers keep and 

21 the amount of savings from pharmacy benefits 

22 managers that reach patients and consumers; 

23 (6) to protection from discrimination, including 

24 on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR273.IS SR273

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1 cluding sexual orientation and gender identity), age, 

2 disability, or documentation status; and 

3 (7) to culturally appropriate care, including 

4 health care services in a language that the patient 

5 understands and that is culturally sensitive. 

Æ 


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