But Will It Cover Backstab Wounds?

Getting a patient's bill of rights he prefers just became tougher for President Bush because he strung along his friend, G.O.P. Congressman Charlie Norwood. When Democrat John Edwards introduced such a bill in the Senate last February, the White House opposed it largely because it let patients sue their HMOs for up to $5 million. The Administration got Norwood to hold off sponsoring a nearly identical bill in the House, promising to strike a compromise. Imagine his surprise when he found that Bush aides had secretly written a bill more to their liking with G.O.P. Senator Bill Frist, limiting jury awards...

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