A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to health care rights.

III 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 273 Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to health care rights. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 9, 2019 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. BROWN, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MARKEY, and Mrs. FEINSTEIN) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to health care rights. Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that all 1 people of the United States have the right— 2 (1) to affordable health insurance coverage, in- 3 cluding— 4 (A) the right of individuals with pre-exist- 5 ing conditions to secure health insurance with 6 the same terms, benefits, and price as individ- 7 uals who do not have pre-existing conditions; 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR273.IS SR273 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •SRES 273 IS (B) the right to a comprehensive set of es- 1 sential health benefits in the individual and 2 small group markets; 3 (C) the right to stay on a parent’s policy 4 until age 26 for young adults who meet certain 5 requirements; 6 (D) the right to keep health coverage after 7 getting sick, even if the individual made an 8 honest mistake on his or her insurance applica- 9 tion; 10 (E) the right to use an individual’s own re- 11 sources to purchase and pay for treatment or 12 services; and 13 (F) the right to a cap on the yearly 14 deductibles and other out-of-pocket costs an in- 15 dividual is required to pay for covered services 16 under a health insurance plan; 17 (2) to coverage and access to health care serv- 18 ices, including— 19 (A) the right to health insurance coverage 20 regardless of an individual’s pre-existing med- 21 ical conditions or health status; 22 (B) the right to certain preventive 23 screenings without paying out-of-pocket fees or 24 copayments; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR273.IS SR273 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •SRES 273 IS (C) the right to health insurance that pro- 1 vides value relative to the premium cost; 2 (D) the right to be held harmless from sur- 3 prise medical bills; 4 (E) the right to coverage of mental health 5 and substance abuse services with no annual or 6 lifetime limits (including behavioral health 7 treatment, mental and behavioral health inpa- 8 tient services, substance use disorder treat- 9 ment); 10 (F) the right to mental health and sub- 11 stance abuse benefits without financial, treat- 12 ment, or care management limitations that only 13 apply to such benefits; 14 (G) the right to access all smoking ces- 15 sation medications that are approved by the 16 Food and Drug Administration; 17 (H) the right to choose a provider, and to 18 receive an accurate list of all participating pro- 19 viders; 20 (I) the right to access doctors, specialists, 21 and hospitals; 22 (J) the right to emergency medical services 23 without— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR273.IS SR273 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •SRES 273 IS (i) preauthorization for emergency 1 services; 2 (ii) extra administrative hurdles for 3 out-of-network emergency services; or 4 (iii) higher cost-sharing for out-of-net- 5 work emergency services than in-network 6 emergency services; 7 (K) the right to affordable medications; 8 (L) the right to physical, mental, and oral 9 care; 10 (M) the right to a treatment plan from 11 provider for a complex or serious medical condi- 12 tion; 13 (N) the right to go directly to a women’s 14 health care specialist (including obstetricians 15 and gynecologists) without a referral for routine 16 and preventive health care services; 17 (O) the right to a full scope of reproduc- 18 tive health services, including contraceptive 19 care, pregnancy-related care, prenatal care, mis- 20 carriage management, family planning services, 21 abortion care, labor and delivery services, and 22 postnatal care; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR273.IS SR273 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •SRES 273 IS (P) the right to breastfeeding support, 1 counseling, and equipment (including manual 2 and electric pumping equipment); 3 (Q) the right to prescription medications 4 and medical and surgical services related to 5 gender transition; 6 (R) the right to try investigational drugs; 7 (S) the right to a second medical opinion; 8 (T) the right to home care services; 9 (U) the right to a full scope of hospice and 10 palliative care, and end-of-life options; and 11 (V) the right of pediatric patients to a full 12 scope of services offered to adult patients; 13 (3) to health information and records privacy; 14 (4) to explanations of coverage decisions, in- 15 cluding— 16 (A) the right to an explanation and appeal 17 if a plan denies payment for a medical treat- 18 ment or service; 19 (B) the right to an internal appeal of pay- 20 ment decisions of private health plans if the 21 health plan refuses to make a payment; 22 (C) the right to a review by an outside re- 23 view, by an independent organization; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR273.IS SR273 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •SRES 273 IS (D) the right to complain, through griev- 1 ances processes; 2 (5) to transparency, including— 3 (A) the right to an easy-to-understand 4 summary of benefits and coverage; 5 (B) the right to at least 30 days’ notice if 6 an insurer cancels coverage; 7 (C) the right to clear justification and ex- 8 planation for premium increases that are unrea- 9 sonable; 10 (D) the right to know how an enrollee’s 11 plan pays its providers; 12 (E) the right to give informed consent and 13 understanding about medical conditions, risks 14 and benefits of treatment, and appropriate al- 15 ternatives; 16 (F) the right to know how drug companies 17 set drug prices; and 18 (G) the right to know the amount of 19 money pharmacy benefit managers keep and 20 the amount of savings from pharmacy benefits 21 managers that reach patients and consumers; 22 (6) to protection from discrimination, including 23 on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR273.IS SR273 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •SRES 273 IS cluding sexual orientation and gender identity), age, 1 disability, or documentation status; and 2 (7) to culturally appropriate care, including 3 health care services in a language that the patient 4 understands and that is culturally sensitive. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:31 Jul 09, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR273.IS SR273 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS