Debate over A Patients' Bill of Rights

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Washington is embroiled in another high stakes battle over how to best manage medical care. Doctors, lawyers and consumer groups insist on patients' rights to sue their insurance plans when things go wrong. Health plans and employers predict a flood of frivolous lawsuits that will increase costs and threaten medical coverage. We examine the structure of America's medical system and what's at stake, with representatives of the health care and trade industries, a health policy correspondent, doctor, and consumer advocate. Newsmaker: NATO Readies Troops as Macedonia Considers War against Ethnic Albanian Rebels - Foreign reporters departed Scopje yesterday, thinking peace was a hand between the Macedonian government and Albanian rebels. Then talks broke down. The BBC's Jonathan Charles updates us on the tense situation in which the army has surrounded armed rebels, and NATO worries about the security of the area as a major supply line. Reporter's Notebook: Do the Sleep-Deprived Excel? Corporate executives who claim to thrive on minimal sleep may be deceiving themselves. The National Sleep Foundation has just released the results of its new poll on the effect of sleep deprivation. Executive Director Richard Gelula answers the question of whether a lack of sleep is dangerous to normal life, or the key to success.
Washington is embroiled in another high stakes battle over how to best manage medical care. Doctors, lawyers and consumer groups insist on patients' rights to sue their insurance plans when things go wrong. Health plans and employers predict a flood of frivolous lawsuits that will increase costs and threaten medical coverage. We examine the structure of America's medical system and what's at stake, with representatives of the health care and trade industries, a health policy correspondent, doctor, and consumer advocate.
  • Newsmaker: NATO Readies Troops as Macedonia Considers War against Ethnic Albanian Rebels - Foreign reporters departed Scopje yesterday, thinking peace was a hand between the Macedonian government and Albanian rebels. Then talks broke down. The BBC's Jonathan Charles updates us on the tense situation in which the army has surrounded armed rebels, and NATO worries about the security of the area as a major supply line.
  • Reporter's Notebook: Do the Sleep-Deprived Excel? Corporate executives who claim to thrive on minimal sleep may be deceiving themselves. The National Sleep Foundation has just released the results of its new poll on the effect of sleep deprivation. Executive Director Richard Gelula answers the question of whether a lack of sleep is dangerous to normal life, or the key to success.

American Association of Health Plans

American Medical Association

BBC

Congressional Quarterly

Families USA

National Association of Manufacturers

National Sleep Foundation

NATO

McCain-Kennedy Bill (S.872)

Frist Bill (S.899)

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney