Thompson: Patients' rights compromise promises fast, effective action

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Late-night negotiations between White House officials and Georgia Rep. Charles Norwood produced a patients' rights compromise late Wednesday and launched the issue back into the national spotlight.

The House of Representatives will debate and likely vote on the agreement, which has drawn both support and criticism around Washington, by the end of this week.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, a key Bush administration player in the patients' rights debate, talked with CNN's Colleen McEdwards on Thursday about the latest compromise and what it would mean to both patients and health care companies.

VIDEO President Bush reaches a compromise with a key GOP lawmaker on patients' bill of rights. CNN's Kelly Wallace reports (August 1) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) U.S. President George W. Bush and Rep. Charles Norwood, (R) Georgia, jointly announce revised Patients' Bill of Rights legislation (August 1) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   MORE STORIES House plans patients' rights vote   Time.com: White House to Charlie Norwood: Let's make a deal     EXTRA INFORMATION Comparison: Patients' Bill of Rights   Background: The issues in the House debate     RESOURCES Message Board: Health care

MCEDWARDS: There is criticism already this morning that this agreement -- this compromise that has been reached -- is much weaker than the bill that already cleared the Senate. Your thoughts?

THOMPSON: Well, I don't know how people can say it's much weaker. I think it's a very comprehensive bill. It meets the president's guidelines, and it's a bill that the president can sign.

On all the bills, everybody has agreed with 90 percent of the proposal. And I think it's time to get a proposal that the president can sign into law and get this issue behind us.

We have been working on this for six years in Washington. It's time to give the American people their rights -- their opportunities for appeal and an opportunity to have all of these protections. And I think the best way to do it is to take the compromise that the president has worked so hard on and get it passed.

MCEDWARDS: The compromise would allow patients to sue both in federal and state court -- that was a big issue -- but with federal guidelines for liability. What are the chances that those guidelines for liability are going to be too restrictive?

THOMPSON: I don't know how people can say it's going to be too restrictive. It's going to be a federal cause of action. It's going to be able to be litigated in state court with a federal limit of $1.5 million and non-economic damages -- and also under certain cases, a bad actor provision, another $1.5 million for punitive damages. That's pretty expansive.

So I can't imagine anybody could criticize the limits or the fact that there is going to be any limitations on people's rights. And that's what the president wanted -- an expansive people's rights. And that's what we're going to get.

MCEDWARDS: In terms of the review process, a patient has to go before a review panel before that patient can then take that next step and go to court. If this is a sick patient or even a dying patient -- heaven forbid -- how does that really help the patient?

THOMPSON: Can you imagine how long that would take to get their rights abrogated and decided? It's much easier and faster to go to the review panel, so that people could get that care done as fast as they possibly can. And that's what patients want: They want immediate action. And the review panel is much faster than going into a court of law.

If anybody knows anything about the legal system, they understand how slow it is. And that's why the review panel is so much superior.

MCEDWARDS: Secretary Thompson, how do you feel about the way this came about -- that there was essentially a meeting with Representative Norwood, one of the leaders in this campaign … with President Bush? Some of Charlie Norwood's allies are already saying they don't like this. They don't like the way it looks. They don't like the say it smells. They don't like the fact that they weren't consulted.

THOMPSON: This president has reached out to everybody. I can't imagine any president ever has reached out to more people to get a particular proposal through the Congress. He has worked overtime.

This proposal has been in front of the American people for six years, and the president has said it's time to pass it. It's time to get this behind us, and it's time to give the American people their rights as far as medical decisions are concerned.

I think the president just did a tremendous yeoman's job -- a great job of leadership, and I think it's going to pay off in a big vote today in Congress.

MCEDWARDS: Well, it's clearly a bill that the president won't veto. But what about that vote? Do you feel that the undecided members are going to support it?

THOMPSON: I really do, now that Charlie Norwood is teamed up with the president, that we have a very workable bill, one that is comprehensive, one that gives Americans their medical rights and rights for review and an opportunity for litigation. I can't imagine people would not say this is a very good compromise. It's a compromise that I am excited about and one that I can support.