U.S. Patients' Bill of Rights
Encyclopedia
A Patient's Bill of Rights is a statement of the rights
to which patients are entitled as recipients of medical care. Typically, a statement articulates the positive rights which doctors and hospitals ought to provide patients, thereby providing information, offering fair treatment, and granting them autonomy
over medical decisions.
The House of Representatives
and Senate
passed differing versions of the Patients' Bill of Rights. Although both bills would provide patients key rights, such as prompt access to emergency care and medical specialists, only the Senate-passed measure would provide patients with adequate means to enforce their rights.
The Senate-passed Patients' Bill of Rights confers a broad array of rights on patients. The bill would ensure that patients with health care plans have the right to:
This bill was passed by the US Senate by a vote of 59-36 in 2001 and has been waiting for a final vote by the US Senate (after addition of Amendments by the US House of Representatives) since 2002. It failed. See thomas.loc.gov
ability to increase profits" by engaging in extensive and well-funded, anti-reform campaigns. The industry, however, "goes to great lengths to keep its involvement in these campaigns hidden from public view," including the use of "front groups." Indeed, in a 1998 effort to successfully kill Patient Bill of Rights at that time,
and freedoms. Asserting that medical care "must be rendered under conditions that are acceptable to both patient and physician", the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons adopted a list of Patient Freedoms in 1990 which was modified and adopted as a Patients' Bill of Rights in 1995:
All patients should be guaranteed the following freedoms:
Rights
Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people, according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical theory...
to which patients are entitled as recipients of medical care. Typically, a statement articulates the positive rights which doctors and hospitals ought to provide patients, thereby providing information, offering fair treatment, and granting them autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
over medical decisions.
Bipartisan Patient Protection Act (Senate bill S.1052)
The Bipartisan Patient Protection Act (informally and incorrectly known as the McCain-Edwards-Kennedy Patients' Bill of Rights) Senate Bill S.1052 of the 107th Session of the US Senate, was an attempt at providing comprehensive protections to all Americans in health plans in 2001.The House of Representatives
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
passed differing versions of the Patients' Bill of Rights. Although both bills would provide patients key rights, such as prompt access to emergency care and medical specialists, only the Senate-passed measure would provide patients with adequate means to enforce their rights.
The Senate-passed Patients' Bill of Rights confers a broad array of rights on patients. The bill would ensure that patients with health care plans have the right to:
- have their medical decisions made by a doctor;
- see a medical specialist;
- go to the closest emergency room;
- designate a pediatrician as a primary care doctor for their children;
- keep the same doctor throughout their medical treatment;
- obtain the prescription drugs their doctor prescribes;
- access a fair and independent appeals process if care is denied; and
- hold their health plan accountable for harm done.
This bill was passed by the US Senate by a vote of 59-36 in 2001 and has been waiting for a final vote by the US Senate (after addition of Amendments by the US House of Representatives) since 2002. It failed. See thomas.loc.gov
Industry resistance to Patients' Bill of Rights
Wendell Potter, former senior executive at Cigna turned whistle-blower, has written that the insurance industry has worked to kill "any reform that might interfere with insurers'ability to increase profits" by engaging in extensive and well-funded, anti-reform campaigns. The industry, however, "goes to great lengths to keep its involvement in these campaigns hidden from public view," including the use of "front groups." Indeed, in a 1998 effort to successfully kill Patient Bill of Rights at that time,
"the insurers formed a front group
called the Health Benefits Coalition to kill efforts to pass a
Patients Bill of Rights. While it was billed as a broad-based business
coalition that was led by the National Federation of Independent
Business and included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Health
Benefits Coalition in reality got the lion’s share of its funding and
guidance from the big insurance companies and their trade
associations.Like most front groups, the Health Benefits Coalition was set up and
run out of one of Washington’s biggest P.R. firms. The P.R. firm
provided all the staff work for the Coalition..The tactics worked. Industry allies in Congress made sure the Patients’ Bill of Rights would not become law."
Others
Some have cited differences between rightsNegative and positive rights
Philosophers and political scientists make a distinction between negative and positive rights . According to this view, positive rights permit or oblige action, whereas negative rights permit or oblige inaction. These permissions or obligations may be of either a legal or moral character...
and freedoms. Asserting that medical care "must be rendered under conditions that are acceptable to both patient and physician", the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons adopted a list of Patient Freedoms in 1990 which was modified and adopted as a Patients' Bill of Rights in 1995:
All patients should be guaranteed the following freedoms:
- To seek consultation with the physician(s) of their choice;
- To contract with their physician(s) on mutually agreeable terms;
- To be treated confidentially, with access to their records limited to those involved in their care or designated by the patient;
- To use their own resources to purchase the care of their choice;
- To refuse medical treatment even if it is recommended by their physician(s);
- To be informed about their medical condition, the risks and benefits of treatment and appropriate alternatives;
- To refuse third-party interference in their medical care, and to be confident that their actions in seeking or declining medical care will not result in third-party-imposed penalties for patients or physicians;
- To receive full disclosure of their insurance plan in plain language, including:
- CONTRACTS: A copy of the contract between the physician and health care plan, and between the patient or employer and the plan;
- INCENTIVES: Whether participating physicians are offered financial incentives to reduce treatment or ration care;
- COST: The full cost of the plan, including copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles;
- COVERAGE: Benefits covered and excluded, including availability and location of 24-hour emergency care;
- QUALIFICATIONS: A roster and qualifications of participating physicians;
- APPROVAL PROCEDURES: Authorization procedures for services, whether doctors need approval of a committee or any other individual, and who decides what is medically necessary;
- REFERRALS: Procedures for consulting a specialist, and who must authorize the referral;
- APPEALS: Grievance procedures for claim or treatment denials;
- GAG RULE: Whether physicians are subject to a gag rule, preventing criticism of the plan.
See also
- Health care reform in the United StatesHealth care reform in the United StatesHealth care reform in the United States has a long history, of which the most recent results were two federal statutes enacted in 2010: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act , signed March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 , which amended the PPACA and...
- Human experimentation in the United StatesHuman experimentation in the United StatesThere have been numerous experiments performed on human test subjects in the United States that have been considered unethical, and were often performed illegally, without the knowledge, consent, or informed consent of the test subjects....
- Patient empowermentPatient empowermentThe patient empowerment concept, a recent outgrowth of the natural health movement, asserts that to be truly healthy, people must bring about changes in their social situations and in the environment that influences their lives, not only in their personal behavior.According to advocates of the...
- Pregnant patients' rightsPregnant patients' rightsPregnant patients' rights refers to pregnant women's rights regarding medical care during the pregnancy and childbirth. It refers specifically to a patient's rights within a medical setting and should not be confused with pregnancy discrimination....
- Medical ethicsMedical ethicsMedical ethics is a system of moral principles that apply values and judgments to the practice of medicine. As a scholarly discipline, medical ethics encompasses its practical application in clinical settings as well as work on its history, philosophy, theology, and sociology.-History:Historically,...
External links
- American Iatrogenic Association "Promoting accountability for medical professionals and institutions"