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President's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry

Consumer Bill of Rights and Responsibilities
Executive Summary

The Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry was appointed by President Clinton on March 26, 1997, to "advise the President on changes occurring in the health care system and recommend measures as may be necessary to promote and assure health care quality and value, and protect consumers and workers in the health care system." As part of its work, the President asked the Commission to draft a "consumer bill of rights."

The Commission includes 34 members and is co-chaired by The Honorable Alexis M. Herman, Secretary of Labor, and The Honorable Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services. Its members include individuals from a wide variety of backgrounds including consumers, business, labor, health care providers, health plans, State and local governments, and health care quality experts. The Commission has four Subcommittees: Consumer Rights, Protections, and Responsibilities; Quality Measurement; Creating a Quality Improvement Environment; and Roles and Responsibilities of Public and Private Purchasers and Quality Oversight Organizations. The Commission and its Subcommittees meet monthly in public.

Following is a summary of the eight areas of consumer rights and responsibilities adopted by the President's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry:

  1. Information Disclosure
  2. Consumers have the right to receive accurate, easily understood information and some require assistance in making informed health care decisions about their health plans,1 professionals, and facilities.

    This information should include:

    Consumer assistance programs must be carefully structured to promote consumer confidence and to work cooperatively with health plans, providers, payers and regulators. Sponsorship that assures accountability to the interests of consumers and stable, adequate funding are desirable characteristics of such programs.

  3. Choice of Providers and Plans
  4. Consumers have the right to a choice of health care providers that is sufficient to ensure access to appropriate high-quality health care.

    To ensure such choice, health plans should provide the following:

    Public and private group purchasers should, wherever feasible, offer consumers a choice of high-quality health insurance products. Small employers should be provided with greater assistance in offering their workers and their families a choice of health plans and products.

  5. Access to Emergency Services
  6. Consumers have the right to access emergency health care services when and where the need arises. Health plans should provide payment when a consumer presents to an emergency department with acute symptoms of sufficient severity -- including severe pain -- such that a "prudent layperson" could reasonably expect the absence of medical attention to result in placing that consumer's health in serious jeopardy, serious impairment to bodily functions, or serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part.

    To ensure this right:

  7. Participation in Treatment Decisions
  8. Consumers have the right and responsibility to fully participate in all decisions related to their health care. Consumers who are unable to fully participate in treatment decisions have the right to be represented by parents, guardians, family members, or other conservators.

    In order to ensure consumers' right and ability to participate in treatment decisions, health care professionals should:

    To facilitate greater communication between patients and providers, health care providers, facilities, and plans should:

  9. Respect and Nondiscrimination
  10. Consumers have the right to considerate, respectful care from all members of the health care system at all times and under all circumstances. An environment of mutual respect is essential to maintain a quality health care system.

    Consumers must not be discriminated against in the delivery of health care services consistent with the benefits covered in their policy or as required by law based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, or source of payment.

    Consumers who are eligible for coverage under the terms and conditions of a health plan or program or as required by law must not be discriminated against in marketing and enrollment practices based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, age, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, genetic information, or source of payment.

  11. Confidentiality of Health Information
  12. Consumers have the right to communicate with health care providers in confidence and to have the confidentiality of their individually identifiable health care information protected. Consumers also have the right to review and copy their own medical records and request amendments to their records.

    In order to ensure this right:

  13. Complaints and Appeals
  14. All consumers have the right to a fair and efficient process for resolving differences with their health plans, health care providers, and the institutions that serve them, including a rigorous system of internal review and an independent system of external review.

    Internal appeals systems should include:

    External appeals systems should:

  15. Consumer Responsibilities
  16. In a health care system that protects consumers' rights, it is reasonable to expect and encourage consumers to assume reasonable responsibilities. Greater individual involvement by consumers in their care increases the likelihood of achieving the best outcomes and helps support a quality improvement, cost-conscious environment. Such responsibilities include:

  1. The term "health plans" is used throughout this report and refers broadly to indemnity insurers, managed care organizations (including health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations), self-funded employer-sponsored plans, Taft-Hartley trusts, church plans, association plans, State and local government employee programs, and public insurance programs (i.e. Medicare and Medicaid).

  2. The right to external appeals does not apply to denials, reductions, or terminations of coverage or denials of payment for services that are specifically excluded from the consumer's coverage as established by contract.

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Last Revised: Wednesday, June 24, 1998