McCain Joins Debate Over Health Care

Sen. John McCain unveiled a health care plan Tuesday that calls for expanding prescription drug assistance for seniors and offering consumers a limited right to sue HMOs for medical malpractice.

McCain’s plan--at a cost of $4.3 billion in the first year and about $7.6 billion by the fifth year--would also provide health coverage to some of the 44 million Americans who are now without insurance. But he was uncertain how many more it would reach.

“The nation remains woefully unprepared for the long-term health care needs of the baby boom generation,” McCain said in a policy speech delivered in a state that could be pivotal in his race against front-runner George W. Bush.

“Too many Americans go to sleep at night desperately fearing illness or injury to themselves or a family member because they are without health insurance to pay the bills,” he said. “Too many Americans feel held hostage by HMOs. Eleven million children go without health care coverage. My friends, we are a better country and a better people than that.”

McCain said he could finance the program by slashing wasteful government spending.

McCain promised to provide $2 billion to improve the health care of veterans “who have risked their lives in defense of ours.”

And for seniors, the senator from Arizona called for the creation of a senior pharmaceutical assistance program that would provide a significant block grant to any state that would be willing to share the cost.

Under the program, seniors with incomes up to 200% of the poverty level--currently $8,240 annually for individuals and $11,060 for couples--would receive assistance for medications under guidelines established by their state.

McCain said he would fund regional pilot programs to provide seniors, regardless of their incomes, with assistance for catastrophic drug expenditures that “can cruelly snatch away a life’s savings and the dream of passing something on.”

Turning to a controversial topic in the Republican Party, McCain said he would give patients the right to sue HMOs for harmful medical care decisions. McCain said he would allow state-level review panels to consider consumers’ complaints against their HMOs. If the state panel rejected the claim, the patient could then sue the HMO in court.

“It’s to resolve disputes before you get to” court, said McCain spokesman Howard Opinsky. “If you’re turned down by the board, then you would still have the ability to sue.” The idea is a bit different from the one Bush has endorsed in Texas, where he is governor. Bush would create state panels to consider patient complaints against HMOs and weed out the frivolous cases that can drive up health costs. Those cases upheld by the review panel could be forwarded to court.

The Texas plan passed in 1997, but without Bush’s signature. Bush said he would support a similar program nationwide if he were elected president.

Publisher Steve Forbes and social activist Gary Bauer, two of McCain’s rivals for the GOP presidential nomination, also favor a patient’s right to sue an HMO. But the idea was rejected last summer by the Republican-controlled Congress.

At that time, when the Senate debated the issue, McCain joined most of his Republican colleagues in voting to strip the right to sue from a Democratic HMO bill. He also did not join an effort to push a compromise.

McCain aides explained Tuesday that the senator wanted a more limited right to sue, but never got a chance to vote on it.

“Due process is a fundamental right guaranteed by our Constitution. No politician has the right to take that right away--particularly not when your family’s health is at stake,” he said. “The entity to be held accountable must be the one that makes the health care decision in question--in other words, the HMO.”

McCain said his proposal would not allow patients to sue for punitive damages.

Under the plan, they would be able to sue for economic damages--such as lost wages and future earnings--with no caps on the awards, said McCain spokesman Dan Schnur.

They would also have the right to sue for noneconomic compensation for such things as pain and suffering. McCain planned to propose legislation calling for a $250,000 cap on pain and suffering damage awards, Schnur said.

The Republican primary in South Carolina is scheduled just two weeks after the nation’s first primary in New Hampshire. If McCain wins the New Hampshire contest, where he is now leading in the polls, the vote in South Carolina is considered a crucial test for the two front-runners. Bush is currently leading in South Carolina surveys.

McCain continues campaigning in South Carolina today when he is scheduled to give a speech about campaign finance reform--a cornerstone topic in his candidacy.

McCain used the health care initiative to underline the issue, saying that powerful special interests have stood in the way of the enactment of a “responsible” bill of rights for patients.

“Republicans want to protect insurance companies from lawsuits,” he said. “The Democrats want to let the trial lawyers sue anyone for anything.”