Patients' Bill of Rights Act of 2005
Latest action · May 12, 2005 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5075-5099)
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 12, 2005
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Patients' Bill of Rights Act of 2005 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code to set forth requirements for health plans or issuers of health insurance coverage, including requirements for: (1) utilization review activities; (2) procedures for claims benefits processing, prior authorization determinations, appeals, and internal reviews; and (3) access for an independent, external review.
Requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish the Health Care Consumer Assistance Fund to award grants to States for consumer assistance activities designed to provide information, assistance, and referrals to consumers of health insurance products.
Sets forth requirements for managed care programs and their access to care, including requiring such programs to: (1) offer coverage that allows for non-network coverage through another plan or issuer; (2) provide access to out-of-network emergency care without prior authorization; and (3) provide timely access to specialists.
Requires certain annual disclosures from health plans or issuers, including disclosures of covered benefits, cost-sharing requirements, and participating providers.
Prohibits a plan or issuer from: (1) restricting a health care professional's ability to advise a patient on the health of an individual or on medical care or treatment for the individual's condition or disease; and (2) operating any physician incentive plan.
Establishes a cause of action against a plan or issuer that fails to exercise ordinary care in making a decision that results in a personal injury or death to a participant or beneficiary.
Provides a tax credit to small businesses for expenses paid by the business for health insurance coverage of employees.
Cosponsors 13
Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on May 12, 2005.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MD | Barbara A. Mikulski | Original | May 12, 2005 |
| D-CA | Barbara Boxer | Original | May 12, 2005 |
| D-ND | Byron L. Dorgan | Original | May 12, 2005 |
| D-MI | Carl Levin | Original | May 12, 2005 |
| D-NY | Charles E. Schumer | Original | May 12, 2005 |
| D-MI | Debbie Stabenow | Original | May 12, 2005 |
| D-NJ | Frank R. Lautenberg | Original | May 12, 2005 |
| D-RI | Jack Reed | Original | May 12, 2005 |
| D-NJ | Jon S. Corzine | Original | May 12, 2005 |
| D-WA | Maria Cantwell | Original | May 12, 2005 |
| D-MN | Mark Dayton | Original | May 12, 2005 |
| D-WA | Patty Murray | Original | May 12, 2005 |
| D-IA | Tom Harkin | Original | May 12, 2005 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Finance Committee | Referred May 12, 2005 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- May 12, 2005Introduced in Senate
- May 12, 2005Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5075)
- May 12, 2005Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. (text of measure as introduced: CR S5075-5099)
In the Congressional Record 1
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Debate and remarks S5075Text printed S5075–S5099 | Edward M. Kennedy D-MA (text) | May 12, 2005 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 2259 | Patients' Bill of Rights Act of 2005 | Identical bill | May 31, 2005 |
| HR 2650 | Patient Protection Act of 2005 | Related bill | Jul 11, 2005 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to protect consumers in managed care plans and other health coverage
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Patients' Bill of Rights Act of 2005
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
- Abortion
- Access to health care
- Accreditation (Medical care)
- Administrative procedure
- Administrative remedies
- Ambulances
- Breast cancer
- Cancer
- Case management
- Charitable contributions
- Child health
- Civil actions and liability
- Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
- Clinical trials
- Coinsurance
- Collective bargaining
- Commerce
- Communication in medicine
- Confidential communications
- Conflict of interests
- Congress
- Congressional investigations
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Consumer complaints
- Consumer education
- Cooperative societies
- Corporation directors
- Damages
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Department of Labor
- Directories
- Discrimination in insurance
- Discrimination in medical care
- Donation of organs, tissues, etc.
- Drugs
- Economics and Public Finance
- Emergency Management
- Emergency medicine
- Employee health benefits
- Employers' liability
- Evaluation research (Social action programs)
- Evidence (Law)
- Excise tax
- Families
- Federal employees
- Federal preemption
- Federal-state relations
- Fees
- Finance and Financial Sector
- Fines (Penalties)
- Foundations
- Freedom of speech
- Government contractors
- Government employees' health insurance
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government paperwork
- Government publicity
- Government trust funds
- Governmental investigations
- Grants-in-aid
- Grievance procedures
- Gynecology
- Health
- Health insurance
- Health insurance continuation
- Health maintenance organizations
- Health planning
- Hospital care
- Housing and Community Development
- Humans
- Income tax
- Injunctions
- Insurance premiums
- Labeling
- Labor and Employment
- Labor contracts
- Law
- Legal fees
- Liability (Law)
- Licenses
- Limitation of actions
- Living wills
- Managed care
- Mastectomy
- Medicaid
- Medical economics
- Medical ethics
- Medical malpractice
- Medical records
- Medical screening
- Medical supplies
- Medical tests
- Medically uninsured
- Medicare
- Minorities
- Minority health
- Nonprofit organizations
- Obstetrics
- Old age, survivors and disability insurance
- Patient satisfaction
- Patients' rights
- Peer review organizations (Medicine)
- Performance measurement
- Pharmacists
- Physician-patient privilege
- Physicians
- Pregnant women
- Prescription pricing
- Preventive medicine
- Punitive damages
- Quality of care
- Reinsurance
- Restrictive trade practices
- Right of privacy
- Rural health
- Salaries
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Small business
- Social security finance
- Social Welfare
- Standards
- State laws
- Subsidies
- Surgery
- Tax credits
- Tax penalties
- Taxation
- Telephone
- Terminal care
- Terminally ill
- Translating and interpreting
- Transportation and Public Works
- Welfare recipients
- Whistle blowing
- Women
- Women's health
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 12, 2005Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.