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June 22, 2001

Sen. Edwards Talks Lawsuits on TV

Oops! He Did It Again.

On NBC's Today show Tuesday, June 19, Senator Edwards, a personal injury lawyer and primary sponsor of the McCain-Edwards-Kennedy "Lawyers' Right to Bill Act" (S. 1052), misled the country about what his bill would do. Again. (See RPC paper "Has Senator Edwards Read His Own Bill?" June 20, 2001.)

Senator Edwards	His Bill, S. 1052
"We actually specifically protect employers. Employers cannot be sued under our bill."	Actually, just the opposite. Current law precludes such suits. S. 1052 specifically authorizes lawsuits against employers. Page 145, line 3 reads: ". . . a cause of action may arise against an employer . . ."
"We have a review process before the case can ever be taken to court."	Wrong. Again. Under S. 1052, enrollees could get around the review process and go straight to court for monetary damages. . . . . . simply by waiting 181 days from a coverage denial, or . . . at any time the enrollee claims the benefit denial would cause "immediate and irreparable harm." Also, no external review is required before contract disputes could go to federal court.

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