HOW WAS BILL FRIST SPENDING HIS TIME?
MEDICARE: Frist Key to Passage of Final Medicare Bill. “He [Frist] put himself on the [Medicare] bill’s negotiating team,” he said, “because that’s how important this bill was to me.” At another juncture, he teamed with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., to break an impasse over the bill’s most controversial element: a proposal that would have called for direct competition between Medicare and private health insurance companies. [Gannett News Service, 11/27/03] • HCA Directly Benefited from Frist’s Medicare Bill. “HCA stands to benefit from the Medicare bill because 40 percent of its revenues come from the government-run health insurance program. Frist repeatedly pointed out that the Senate ethics committee had determined that he had no conflict. He countered that he brought an insider’s knowledge to the table that would be helpful.” [Gannett News Service, 11/27/03] PATIENTS’ BILL OF RIGHTS: Frist Backed Weaker Bill, to Surprise of Physicians. After a bitter fight, the Senate reject
