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DeWine Poised to Betray Ohio State Patients Rights' Laws and Allow Insurers Federal Right to Sell Junk Health Policies

Posted on: Tuesday, 14 March 2006, 12:00 CST

CLEVELAND, March 14 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Ohio Senator Mike DeWine (R) will cast a critical patient protection vote in the U.S. Senate committee tomorrow, determining whether an over- reaching bill to dismantle state oversight of health insurance and hard-won HMO patients' rights will move forward. Senator DeWine has taken $455,852 in campaign contributions from the health care industry and $154,650 from the insurance industry since 2001, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The legislation, S. 1955 (Enzi, R-WY), would gut state Patient Bill of Rights laws established in 41 states and remove local state oversight to replace them with weaker or non-existent "harmonized" federal standards. State rules at risk include Ohio laws requiring health insurance plans to provide cervical cancer screening, banning "drive-thru" deliveries, and guaranteeing an independent review if an insurer denies coverage. To see the full list of Ohio laws that are threatened visit http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/ S.1955_Chart.pdf

"Senator DeWine must choose tomorrow between the rights of HMO patients to benefits and services required by the Ohio legislature and an insurance industry that has given him six figure campaign contributions," said Foundation for for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights President Jamie Court.

Listen to Court's National Public Radio "Marketplace" commentary on the bill at http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/insurance/co/ ?postId=595

A letter sent by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights condemned Senator Michael Enzi's (R- WY) new federal "association health plan" legislation:

"Under the guise of making health care affordable, your bill encourages HMOs and insurers to sell coverage that provides no benefit guarantees," wrote FTCR. "Your bill does nothing to address out of control health care costs -- like capping health insurance overhead costs -- which are now the fastest growing component of health care spending."

Read FTCR's letter at: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/ AHP_letter.pdf

Dana Christensen, a widow who was insured through an association health plan and owed more than $450,000 when her husband died of bone cancer, will speak out against the bill in Washington, D.C. tomorrow and ask Senator DeWine and other committee members to kill Enzi's legislation that would "allow insurance companies to sell junk policies that don't protect patients when they are sick."

Though similar legislation has been proposed in past sessions and passed by the House of Representatives, the bill has never moved in the Senate.

The Christensens' story can be found in an online resource published by FTCR outlining the association health plans' skeletal benefits: http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/healthcare/BushCare/

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The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) is a nonpartisan consumer advocacy organization. For more information, visit us on the web at http://www.ConsumerWatchdog.org

http://www.usnewswire.com

Source: U.S. Newswire

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