Supporters of the "Patient Access to Responsible Care Act" (PARCA) claim it would protect patients from managed care plans that deny necessary care for the sake of higher profits. It would do no such thing. Rather, PARCA would implement major portions of the radical Clinton health plan and devastate the health coverage of millions of Americans:

What about the rights of the 600,000 Americans who would lose their health coverage if Clinton's health care "Bill of Rights" becomes law? Before a medical student becomes a doctor, he or she must take the Hippocratic Oath, a medical code of ethics that begins, "First, do no harm." In contrast, members of President Clinton's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry took no such oath.

Members of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) may be surprised to learn what the AARP’s Washington lobbyists are trying to do to seniors’ Medicare coverage. The AARP’s 32 million members include millions of Medicare beneficiaries. Yet, the AARP is supporting a plan to drastically restrict Medicare beneficiaries’ choice of doctors.

This past September, President Clinton told a union audience he was proud of his 1994 attempt to put a government bureaucrat between every American and their doctor. He then told the audience how he intends to implement his failed health care take-over one piece at a time: "Maybe we can do it . . . a step at a time, until eventually we finish this."

Before a medical student becomes a doctor, he or she must take the Hippocratic Oath, a medical code of ethics that begins, "First, do no harm." In contrast, members of presidential commissions take no such oaths, as evidenced by the "Consumer Bill of Rights" unveiled recently by President Clinton’s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry.

Testimony of JAMES C. MILLER III before the SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH & ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES on H.R. 1415, THE "PATIENT ACCESS TO RESPONSIBLE CARE ACT"

Chairman Thomas, Commissioners, good afternoon. My name is Michael Cannon and I represent Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan consumer group with 250,000 members. Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation believes consumer choice and competition among health care and coverage providers are the keys to consumer protection. These tools enable consumers and health coverage providers to discipline those providers who fail to offer a quality product.