‘Fair’ Effort Ordered on Insurance Appeals

President Clinton ordered the Labor Department to quickly assure a “fair and unbiased” appeals process for people denied or delayed coverage under private health insurance plans. But he said that his action does not go nearly far enough and that it is up to Congress to provide more health care protections and up to voters to make sure Congress acts. “The only way to do those things is to pass a real, enforceable patients’ bill of rights,” Clinton said in his weekly radio address. The White House said that under current law health plan officials making decisions concerning coverage “often do not have medical expertise to make such decisions” and that appeals of adverse actions can take as long as 300 days.