Insurance companies hold supreme power over both payment decisions and treatment decisions, potentially compromising the quality of care along the way. The Quality Health Care Coalition Act addresses providers’ concerns with their unequal bargaining position with insurers -- a problem which hurts the quality of care patients receive. For that reason, Congress should act to restore balance to the provider - insurer relationship.

However, passing H.R. 1304 does not relieve us of our responsibility to restore the balance to the patient - insurer relationship by enacting a meaningful, enforceable Patients’ Bill of Rights that covers all Americans. The House of Representatives passed such a bill on a bipartisan basis last October. The Norwood-Dingell bill provides a fair, independent, and expeditious appeals process, and guarantees that doctors, not accountants, are making medical decisions. The bill ensures that patients have basic rights such as access to specialists, access to emergency care, access to ob-gyn care, and access to needed drugs. It also ensures that patients can hold their HMO accountable for acting irresponsibly, if those actions cause injury or death. More than nine months have passed, the Conference has failed, and Congress still has not delivered a bill to the President.