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Indian doctors pave way for patients' rights bill

Nirshan Perera

Like thousands of his colleagues across the country, Dr S 'Jay' Jayasankar is anxiously watching the evening news this week, holding his breath at any mention of the Patients' Bill of Rights.

As the landmark legislation winds its way through Congress, those on both sides of the issue are cautiously saying it's a done deal.

Although the final version is still being hammered out, on Wednesday President George W. Bush announced that a crucial agreement was reached that could pave the way for a vote as early as Thursday.

For Jayasankar, the newly installed president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, this is a major victory.

For years, the 32,000-strong group has been vigorously lobbying for better patient protection. They got involved in the fight early on, helping Congressman Frank Pallone craft a version of the bill several years ago.

And since April its members have met over 60 politicians in the nation's capital to voice their viewpoints and encourage the bill's passage.

According to Jayasankar, the healthcare industry in the United States has changed dramatically since he became a doctor in 1967. While the quality of medical care has soared, the bureaucracy that has blossomed around managed healthcare has been disastrous.

"In the old days, it was a two-way relationship between patients and physicians," he explained.

"Now it has become a distorted triangle with the insurance companies and healthcare companies totally removed from patients and physicians. The idea that we must do what's best for the patient has become corrupted by cost control."

Jayasankar said AAPI espouses all the major principles behind the legislation, but some the details still have to be firmly pinned down.

"It really is a moving target," he noted. "The versions change so fast."

The Patients' Bill of Rights, in its current state, guarantees access to emergency care, medical specialists and the newest drugs. But a major bone of contention has been, and remains, the ability of patients to sue managed care organisations for injuries caused by denial of care and administrative delays.

"We are certainly not for opening the floodgates for unnecessary litigation," Jayasankar noted, "but there must be recourse for patients that's both administrative and judicial."

The managed care industry has fought tooth and nail against legal liability saying a third-party appeals process is the best way to resolve disputes.

Ongoing negotiations on the issue made significant progress on Wednesday, though the details have yet to be revealed. .

Reflecting on the group's successful lobbying efforts, outgoing AAPI president Dayan Naik, who handed the reigns over to Jayasankar in July, said, "Five years ago we started championing this and now we are happy to see that in one form or another it is coming out. It is a victory for both patients and healthcare providers and AAPI takes tremendous pride in saying we took a role in this."

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