 Saving Marguerite
Ryan:
The Bill of Health Care Rights
Following is my proposal for a "Bill of Health Care Rights".
If you agree, please clip and send to your representative in Congress at
the addresses listed below:
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy
315 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Telephone: (202) 224-4543
E-mail: senator@kennedy.senate.gov
Sen. John F. Kerry
421 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Telephone: (202) 224-2742
E-mail: john_kerry@kerry.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. John F. Tierney
120 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Telephone: (202) 225-8020
Fax: (202) 225-5915
or
17 Peabody Square
Peabody, MA 01960
Telephone: (508) 531-1669
Amendment I
Congress shall appoint a special committee comprised of citizens of
the United States of America who have had experience with the existing
health care system. That committee shall be empowered to rewrite the existing
Medicare and Medicaid regulations to insure that all Americans, regardless
of race, religion, creed, or income level shall be guaranteed the full
health care necessary to ensure that they may enjoy life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness, as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
In the event that said Congress fails to appoint said Committee, or fails
to adopt the final recommendations of said Committee, the people of these
United States will have the right and duty to form said Committee and rewrite
said Medicare and Medicaid regulations, and to adopt as law said regulations,
to ensure that all Americans shall be guaranteed full health care.
Amendment II
Congress shall make no law prohibiting the delivery of individual health
care, as determined by an authorized and licensed physician, nor shall
it curtail a patient's freedom of treatment based upon reasons of cost
or difficulty.
Amendment III
No Person, in a time of illness, shall have a treatment forced upon
him or her by an insurance agency, government agency, physician, nurse,
or aide without their full consent, or without the full consent of their
legally appointed guardian. Nor shall any person, in a time of illness,
have a treatment removed by an insurance agency, government agency, physician,
nurse, or aide without their full consent, or without the full consent
of their legally appointed guardian.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,
and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath
or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and
the persons or things to be seized. These rights will not be abridged by
reason of illness, physical or mental. Nor shall any person have a lien
placed against his or her home or personal property by any health insurance
company or government health provider, unless such person, or their legal
representative, has refused to pay a fair share of said medical treatment,
said fair share having been determined by a board of his or her peers.
Amendment V
No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law; nor shall the government place a lien against, or otherwise
seize private property, nor shall it be taken for compensation for the
health care provided under the Bill of Health Care Rights.
Amendment VI
In all instances where health care is needed the applicant for said
care shall enjoy the right to a speedy treatment by a qualified physician,
hospital, or nursing home regardless of his or her ability to pay. No application
forms, or failure to fill out application forms, shall be used as a cause
for delay or denial of said health care. Treatment shall take precedence
over paperwork, though a physician, hospital, or nursing home may delay
the release of a patient after treatment has been administered in order
to have the proper forms filled out. The Assistance of Counsel, if necessary,
shall be made available for any patient who has been denied health care,
or who had not been provided speedy health care.
Amendment VII
In suits at common law involving the failure of a medical professional
or facility to provide proper health care, where the value in controversy
shall exceed two thousand dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be
preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in
any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common
law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive co-payment shall not be required, nor excessive fees imposed,
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted upon any citizen because of
his or her need for health care.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain health care rights,
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively,
or to the people. Except that no state may deny proper health care to any
of its citizens, not shall any state deny the speedy delivery of said health
care. In the event a State shall deny, or delay, or attempt to deny or
delay health care prescribed by a primary care physician, the people shall
have the right to petition the Central government for redress, and the
people shall have the right to seek relief in the courts, with all costs
for said legal pursuits to be paid by the States so sued.
-- C.C.R.
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