| Author | Subject: The Patients' Bill of Rights according to AOI |
| Del | Posted At 21:05:12 03/30/2000
The following was published in today's Oregonian "Letters to the Editor." I sent the rebuttal that follows this fiction by AOI's president. I hope others send letters too. It's apparent that anyone from AOI is "incapable" of telling the truth about anything. Notice the scare tactic "threat" of AOI's president concerning patient coverage. Any injured worker can tell you what an independent external review is, and that's an insurance company "bought" medical whore. WHAT BUTRICK WROTE: Modify patients' bill of rights The liability component of the federal Patients' Bill of Rights making its way through Congress opens employers to lawsuits. Associated Oregon Industries is concerned that, as written, this legislation could have the unintended result of forcing employers to discontinue or reduce health care coverage for employees. There is much that is good in this legislation, but the "sue your health plan" or "sue your employer" provision is a mistake. Ultimately, costs of such lawsuits will be passed on to consumers of health care. A compromise that would keep health care affordable and give consumers what they want — the ability to appeal denials to an independent third party for a fair decision — is called independent external review. Oregonians need to send a message to their congressional delegation: Pass a Patients' Bill of Rights with the consumer protection of independent external review, but remove the unbridled liability. Then we'll have a Bill of Rights that truly is a protection for all of us. RiCHARD BUTRICK President, Associated Oregon Industries Salem MY RESPONSE WITH 150 WORD LIMIT: Richard Butrick, of the employer lobby AOI, asked readers here to contact their representatives and send a message to protect employers and health plan providers from lawsuits. His implication was that, otherwise, the "sky will fall" for Americans. The statements he made simply have no basis in fact. Texas enacted a similar Patient’s Bill of Rights three years ago. Only a negligible rise in insurance premiums and six patient lawsuits occurred as a result of this legislation. The U.S. Congressional Budget Office has stated that right-to-sue legislation will raise premiums by 1.2 percent. An AMA analysis found that the bill should not substantially increase employers’ liability exposure under state laws. Health care organizations presently give financial incentives to physicians to encourage them to deny or delay patients' care. Oregonians should support the Norwood-Dingell bill, and not the sham Republican alternative that provides only the illusion of reform. Insurance company abuses must stop. Employers and insurance providers should not continue to enjoy the "special rights" advocated by special interests who put profits over lives. Patients’ health must come first. Ernest Delmazzo Injured Workers’ Alliance 9205 SE Clackamas Road Clackamas, Oregon 97015 |
| Webmaster |
Management Staff: Associated Oregon Industries, E-mail (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 22:01:55 03/30/2000 Associated Oregon Industries Management Staff Executive Management "Richard M. Butrick" President and Chief Executive Officer, President, AOI Foundation richard@aoi.org Gary M. Carlson Executive Vice President and Director of Legislation; Revenue and Taxation, General Fund Budget, Government Efficiency. gcarlson@aoi.org Donna C. Lewis Vice President; Manager of Communications and Media Relations, and Membership Services donna@aoi.org Shirley Myers; Assistant to the President, Professional Support Manager, Board Liaison, Membership Services shirley@aoi.org Lobby Team Julie A. Brandis Legislative Representative; Education, Energy, and Retail services jbrandis@aoi.org Betsy Earls Legislative Representative and legal Advisor; labor law, Tax Appeals Reform, Family Leave betsy@aoi.org Unemployment Insurance, Tort Reform, Judicial Reform, Transporation. Kevin C. Earls Legislative Representative; Health Care Policy Director of AOI HealthChoice Kearls@aoi.org John D. Ledger Legislative Representative; Environment and Natural Resources. Ledger@aoi.org Dave Moss Legislative Representative; Director of AOI-PAC, and Liaison to Chamber of Commerce. Moss@aoi.org Lisa Trussell Legislative Representative; Workers Compensation. Lisa@aoi.org Risk Management Ron Powell Director of Risk Management powell@aoi.org Financial Wendy Powell Chief Financial Office powell@cyberis.net Membership Corry Hollingsworth Membership Services; Membership Retention corry@aoi.org Kathy Hinton Membership and Business Viewpoint sales Information Systems John Metcalf Director of Information Services jmetcalf@aoi.org Professional Support Jackie Haugen Professional Support Administrative Assistant, AOI and AOI Foundation. jackie@aoi.org Kathy Hall Assistant to the Vice President, Professional Support for Communications kathy@aoi.org Membership Relations and Business Viewpoint. Teri Kucera Professional support Legislative Assistant for Lobbying issues relating to. teri@aoi.org Transportation, Energy, Retail and Labor Law. Carol Phillips Professional Legislative Assistant for Lobbying issues relating to carol@aoi.org" Enviroment, Workers Compensation and Health Care. Erica Dunsmore Professional support Membership Administrative Assistant for Membership Services erica@aoi.org" Cheryl Ellertson Assistant to AOSC President and AOI Professional support for Lobbying issues cheryl@aoi.org" General fund Budget, Government Efficiency, Tax and Revenue, Risk Management. |
| Tom |
Re: The Patients' Bill of Rights according to AOI (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 22:31:33 03/30/2000 As always, Aoi's first concern is money and Measure 81. Aoi say that they are concerned about schools, the enviroment, and Oregon as a whole, They have done nothing to improve Oregon, just their bank account. and all of the lawmakers in their back pocket. |
| Kay |
Re: The Patients' Bill of Rights according to AOI (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 01:14:26 03/31/2000 I spoke with Richard Butrick today by telephone regarding his letter to the Editor. He was complaining that it had taken a month to get it printed. I told him that I couldn't get any of mine printed and ask him what his secret was. I asked him where he got his information about the "sue your employer" provision and he couldn't tell me, except he thought it was in one of the bills past by Congress. He is either intentionally putting out false, misleading statements or he is ignorant as to what these bills contain. Of course, the scare tactics are predictable. It is the sort of thing we are used to hearing from the "repugnantcans" when any major,progressive legislation that improves the lives of ordinary people gains wide spread support. We know that our insurance premiums will go up independently of our ability to sue HMOs. He thinks the independent external review will "give consumers what they want". As I explained to him, not if "independent" means paid for by insurance companies as in the present workers' comp system. system. |
| Chris |
Re: The Patients' Bill of Rights according to AOI (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 14:08:38 04/07/2000 That doesn't surprise me Kay. Butrick is nothing but a lacky for big business and insurance companies. AOI was given the sole and highly profitable priviledge by politicians they own like Gene Derfler, Kitzhaber, and Kevin Mannix-depressive. AOI has gouged millions from Oregonians to act as a "sales broker" for the publicly owned SAIF Corp. Why on earth does SAIF need outside brokers???? It's so obvious a political payoff it's pathetic. Of course Butrick wants to protect the greedy bastards who fatten his own wallet at the expense of people's lives. He's just another prostitute who's thrown away all his human morals in the name of greed. The fact that he was published by the Whoregonian says something. I read their editorial section each and every day and I believe it's been a year now (Workers Memorial letter) since an injured worker was published. The Whoregonian doesn't care about average citizens, just the advertising revenues collected from big business. I know this isn't what "freedom of the press" in our Constitution stands for. |
| Del |
Re: The Patients' Bill of Rights according to AOI (Currently 0 replies)
Posted At 10:50:55 04/14/2000 I wish to thank the Oregonian for publishing the patients' bill of rights letter today, Friday, April 14th. Their minor edit of it actually improved it. Kay, who's a WI member, had a letter critical of workers' comp published on April 9. It is my hope that victims of the WC system and insurance company abuse will write letters to the Oregonian with regularity. When the Oregonian receives many letters on a particular subject, and I'm certain many other workers wrote to them during this same time, they will publish some. It's imperative, for change to occur, that Oregon workers be informed of the abuses happening daily to fellow workers. Please spread the truth. |
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