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Status of Patient's Bill of Rights

A Patient's Bill of Rights represents a collection of guarantees that patients can expect to receive when placing themselves in the care of medical providers and related services. A private company's bill of rights generally represents what customers can expect to receive as a minimum level of service. From a legal or national perspective, while attempts have been made to codify a Patient Bill of Rights, no such federal law exists yet as of November 2009.

  1. Recent History

    • The last big legislation package that was authored to provide a federally required Patient Bill of Rights was attempted in the form of the Bipartisan Patient Protection Act in Senate Bill S.1052 of the 107th Session of the U.S. Senate. The legislation would have provided a overarching umbrella of rules and laws that medical providers would have been required to perform when treating or assisting patients. The bill was proposed on the Senate floor in 2001. It was not enacted.

      The legislative package proposed would have required that medical determinations could only be performed by a doctor rather than an administrator, patients' requests to see medical specialists would be honored, patients could be treated at the closest emergency room rather than their network location, and a number of other changes meant to put medical decisions completely in the hands of doctors and patients rather than HMO management.

    Opposition

    • It's no surprise that the health insurance industry was generally opposed to such legislation. It represented a significant restriction on their method of business and managing their operating costs covering medical bills. Significant funds were spent on lobbyists and political action groups as well as direct marketing and communications to legislators.

    Current Activities

    • While not directly named a proposed Patient Bill of Rights, the current 2009 Health Care Reform being discussed in Congress is in essence a package that includes many of the same issues previously proposed for passage in 2001. The intent and tenets around the 2009 Health Care Reform similarly involve an attempt to place decision-making on health decision in the hands of patients and doctors. After significant lobbying and behind the scene discussions in finance committees, the insurance industry open opposed the current package in a detailed report, emphasizing that it would drive up the cost of health care on those that pay for insurance.

    It's Not Just About Health Care

    • Any government program that gets involved in health care and proposes to direct the distribution and services of such benefits represents a significant cost. Given the significant fiscal outlay that has already occurred in federal activities to boost the economy, the concept of Health Care Reform has also been labeled as another new government program that the taxpayer cannot afford. As a result, this latest package of proposed patient rights is caught up in the politics of government spending as much as it is on the determination of health services.

    Will the Latest Package Pass?

    • As of November 2009, the current 2009 Health Care Reform package had been narrowly approved in the House of Representatives and was now being debated in the Senate. The progress is probably the furthest a patient bill of rights or health care reform package has reached so far in recent years. Much will depend on whether the politics can be overcome and if the cost can be accepted politically.

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