We write to you in your capacity as chair of the patients rights conference committee. The House bill also provides these protections for people in the individual market, people who get insurance on their own for themselves and their families because they do not have access to group plans sponsored by employers. If the Senate s version were to prevail, millions of people would be left out. It would be a tragic mistake for Congress to enact a patient protection that fails to protect these hard working Americans. Every day we count on them to provide an array of essential services, and we must not turn our backs on them.
True accountability is also an essential component of meaningful managed care reform.
Opponents of real accountability argue that patients who have been unfairly denied health care should be limited to external appeals. But external review is simply not enough to protect patients against the worst managed care abuses. A solid external appeals system must go hand in hand with accountability. Accountability is the ultimate deterrent and an essential last resort when all else fails. Only legal accountability gives injured patients what they need to ensure that managed care does the right thing before it is too late.