Is Our Children Learning by Paul Begala

Author:Paul Begala
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: simon & Schuster
Published: 2000-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

chapter 10

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Is There an HMO Bureaucrat in the House?

“Well, there’ll be a health care debate, and there’ll be a health care issue that I’m going to, I mean, a health care speech and policy that I lay out. I talk about health care all the time at these one-on-ones when asked. It’s on people’s minds.”

(CNN interview, 3/8/00)

“I’m sorry. I wish I could wave a wand.”

(To the mother of a boy with a chronic, life-threatening illness whose medical insurance did not cover her child’s needs, who had asked Bush what he was going to do about such cases,

New York Times, 2/18/00)

Patients’ Rights: Bush Is Wrong

Although he cynically brags on the campaign trail about Texas’ patient protection law, Bush vigorously opposed that law. His Web site says, “Under Governor Bush, Texas enacted some of the most comprehensive patient protection laws in the nation.” 1

Bull.

In 1995, Bush vetoed the Patient Protection Act. The bill would have created rules punishing HMOs that: 1) fail to pay for emergency room visits or new treatments, 2) fire doctors without reason, or 3) encourage doctors to deny patients expensive treatment. The bill would also have given HMO customers the right to pay for coverage that allowed them to choose their own doctors. Bush said he vetoed the bill because it interfered with the market and increased costs. After the veto, Bush said, “It was the easy thing politically to sign the bill and the headline of your story ought to read, ‘Governor shows political courage.’ ” 2

The guy caves in to the HMO heavyweights and the insurance company lobbyists and he wants us to write a new chapter about him in Profiles in Courage. (It’s a book, Governor. Karl Rove will explain it to you.)

In 1997, the Legislature took another run at patients’ rights. And this bill was even stronger. The Managed Care Responsibility Act allowed Texans to sue their HMOs for medical malpractice. It passed the Legislature by a veto-proof margin. This put W in a pickle. He hated the bill. His rich backers in the HMO and insurance lobbies hated the bill. But he knew if he vetoed it, the Legislature would simply override him, and the already puny powers of the governor’s office would be eroded.

Bush attacked the bill, saying, “I am concerned that this legislation has the potential to drive up health care costs and increase the number of lawsuits.” But since a veto wasn’t a viable option, he exercised a provision in the state constitution that allows bills to become law without the governor’s signature. 3

Now, what do you call it when a politician vetoes a bill, then attacks its successor legislation, then refuses to sign it—and then brags about it? In Texas we call that chutzpah. (It’s Yiddish, Governor. Karl Rove will explain it to you.)

If he ever gets to Washington, you can bet Bush will continue to be a shameless suck-up to the big insurance companies and the HMOs. During the Senate debate on the Patients’ Bill of Rights, Bush announced his support for the watered-down GOP version of health care “reform.

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