RS20258 -- Patient Protection and Mandatory External Review: Amending ERISA's Claims Procedure
Updated January 19, 2001

	Patients' Bill of Rights Plus Act of 1999, S.1344

The Patients' Bill of Rights Plus Act of 1999, S. 1344 , was introduced by Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) on July 8, 1999, and passed by the Senate onJuly 15, 1999. Bipartisan Consensus Managed Care Improvement Act of 1999, H.R.2990

The Bipartisan Consensus Managed Care Improvement Act of 1999, H.R. (14) The combined bill was passed by the House of Representatives on October 7, 1999. The plan or issuer would have been permittedto condition external review on the exhaustionof the internal review process.
This report discusses the existing claims procedure required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974(ERISA), and legislative efforts in the 106th Congress to amend ERISA to provide for the mandatoryexternal review of denied benefits. Although most of thepatient protection bills introduced in the 106th Congress included provisions for external review andmore rigorous standards for the internal review of deniedbenefits, this report focuses on the Patients' Bill of Rights Plus Act of 1999, S. 1344, passed by the Senateon July 15, 1999, and the BipartisanConsensus Managed Care Improvement Act of 1999, H.R. 2990, passed by the House of Representatives onOctober 7, 1999.