Senate in Standoff on Patient Rights Bill

The Senate opened debate Tuesday on a patients’ rights bill amid a breakdown of bipartisanship, as Republicans blocked any votes on the measure and Democrats threatened to retaliate by forcing members to work through the Fourth of July recess.

The standoff was only one indication of the new acrimony on Capitol Hill, with Democrats and Republicans also deadlocked in their negotiations on reorganizing the Senate now that Democrats have a one-seat majority.

A frustrated Senate majority leader, Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), vowed to use procedural muscle to force Republicans to allow votes on the patients’ bill by Thursday and to keep members in Washington until the measure is passed.

“I’m very disappointed the Republicans, for whatever reason, have chosen to deny us the right to bring this bill to the floor,” Daschle said. “This bill will be completed before we leave.”

For their part, Republicans said they merely needed additional time to examine recent changes to the patients’ bill. But many were clearly relishing their chance to turn the tables on Democrats who often resorted to delay tactics while they were in the minority.

Asked what lesson Democrats should take from the GOP maneuvers this week, Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas) said, “That power ain’t what it’s cracked up to be.”

As a result of the political tactics, senators were left Tuesday to plunge ahead debating a bill on which they cannot yet vote. The legislation would give patients an array of new rights, including a greatly expanded ability to sue health maintenance organizations.

Daschle and other lawmakers supporting the bill staged a rally on the sun-drenched steps of the Capitol on Tuesday morning, surrounded by dozens of supporters waving banners.

After Daschle issued his vow to keep working through the holiday, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) took the podium, grinned and said: “Happy Fourth of July.”

McCain is co-sponsoring the bill with Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and John Edwards (D-N.C.).

About 50 yards away, Republicans held their own event attacking the bill, particularly provisions that Republicans say will expose employers to new lawsuits.

“Employers beware,” said Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.). “There’s language in this bill that can bankrupt you.”

Sponsors of the bill dismissed the attack as a scare tactic and stressed that their measure will shield employers from liability except in extreme circumstances when employers intervene in medical decisions.

Republicans stymied Democrats on Tuesday by objecting when Daschle tried to call up the patients’ bill and dive into what is expected to be two weeks of intense debate punctuated by dozens of votes on amendments.

Daschle said the ploy leaves him little choice but to call a procedural vote to end the GOP heel-dragging, a move that could allow votes as early as Thursday. But Daschle acknowledged he was not sure he had the 60 votes needed to do so.

The Senate standoff came as GOP members in the House were rushing to prepare their own version of a patients’ rights bill and possibly beat the Democratic-controlled Senate to the punch.

A House GOP leadership aide said they hoped to have a new HMO bill ready to introduce this week and to go to the floor next week. The measure, being crafted by Rep. Ernie Fletcher (R-Ky.), is likely to contain provisions many Republicans in the Senate oppose, including allowing patients to sue HMOs in state court.

But GOP House aides said they are trying to sap mounting support for a House bill sponsored by Reps. Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.) and John D. Dingell (D-Mich.) that is virtually identical to the Democrats’ legislation in the Senate.

Meanwhile, Daschle said Tuesday that his talks with Republican leaders on reorganization of the Senate have collapsed.

He said he will move this week to call votes in the full Senate on matters the negotiators had been trying to resolve in private, ranging from committee ratios to the handling of White House nominees.

One of the thorniest issues centers on Republican demands that Supreme Court nominees automatically be put to a Senate vote, even if they are rejected by the Judiciary Committee.

Daschle said he is unwilling to grant that accommodation, saying it would give unprecedented protection to Supreme Court nominees of President Bush.

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Times staff writer Janet Hook contributed to this story.