The issue that currently has Democrats and Republicans engaged in a heated debate on the Senate floor is "The Patients' Bill of Rights." As HMO horror stories become all too frequent across the country, Democrats are using their new majority status in the Senate to get their version of the bill passed.

According to a report released by the consumer group Families USA, "Managed care can create an incentive to underserve or even deny beneficiaries access to needed care since plans and, in some cases, providers can profit from not delivering services." Both Democrats and Republicans plan to limit the power primary care physicians (and insurance companies) have over their patients, by taking away their ability to deny access to a specialist.

Still, there is a major point on which Democrats and Republicans disagree – lawsuits. Democrats want to change the law that currently prohibits Americans in many large insurance plans from suing the insurance company for damages if they are denied or delayed care and suffer tragic consequences. Republicans argue that an over-abundance of lawsuits would increase health insurance costs and leave many patients uninsured.

While Democrats raise a valid point that insurance companies should be held to the same standards as doctors of malpractice, it cannot be ignored that an increase in uninsured patients would be detrimental. Currently in the United States there are 43 million uninsured people, and more than eight out of 10 of those who lack insurance are in working families.

Insurance matters in this country because, according to Families USA, those individuals who do not have it are more likely to be hospitalized for conditions that could have been prevented, are at a greater risk for dying from cancer, and most surprisingly, are charged more than the insured for care!

So, how do you feel about health care in America? Have you ever suffered at the hands of managed care bureaucracy? Are you for a "Patients’ Bill of Rights"? Do you think that insurance companies should be protected under federal law against lawsuits?