Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

By Mr. SANTORUM (for himself, Mrs. DOLE, and Ms. MURKOWSKI):

S. 2701. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide a refundable credit for high deductible health plans for uninsured individuals; to the Committee on Finance.

Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, this week, the first week of May, is National Cover the Uninsured Week. Now in its fourth year, it is the largest nonpartisan effort in our Nation's history to raise awareness on the staggering numbers of Americans who do not have health insurance.

Forty-six million Americans have no health insurance--including more than 8 million children. In Alaska, 110,000 people do not have health insurance--that is nearly 17 percent of our population. One-half of Alaska's uninsured live in a household with a least one child.

Being uninsured too often means going without needed care--and minor illnesses can become major ones simply because health care is delayed. Over a third of Alaska's uninsured reported that they didn't seek medical care for themselves or their family when it was needed. Why? Because they couldn't afford it. An estimated 18,000 uninsured Americans die each year because they received too little care, too late.

Most of these individuals and families are hard-working Americans--just making it from paycheck to paycheck. In fact, 8 out of 10 of uninsured Americans either work or are in working families.

To help those working families, I join Senator Santorum and Senator Dole in introducing the Helping Working Americans Afford Health Coverage Act of 2006. The goal of this bill is to make health coverage more affordable and accessible to the working populations with the greatest needs.

This bill creates a progressive, refundable health care tax credit targeted toward low- and moderate-income individuals and families which can be used for health savings account-eligible health insurance. Recent studies show that low- and moderate-income Americans and those previously uninsured are enrolling in health savings accounts or HSAs. More than one-third of HSA purchasers last year had incomes under $50,000 per year, and one-third of individual HSA purchasers last year were previously uninsured.

Specifically, the refundable tax credit would provide a subsidy of up to 90 percent of the cost of health care coverage, up to a maximum credit of $1,000 per adult and up to $3,000 for a family. Additionally, the credit will be advanceable so that an individual or family would not have to wait to be reimbursed to purchase coverage.

This bill also contains an important provision to address the higher health care costs and higher poverty levels in the noncontiguous States of Alaska and Hawaii. In Alaska, the qualifying income thresholds for both individual Alaskans and Alaskan families are increased by 25 percent.

Though the Helping Working Americans Afford Health Coverage Act is not as comprehensive as S. 160, the SAVE Act, Securing Access, Value and Equality Act--legislation that I introduced earlier in the Congress--it is still an important first step in addressing the needs of the uninsured.

The National Association of Health Underwriters states that this bill "will provide much needed relief by providing a refundable tax credit that can be used for both their health insurance policy premiums and as a deposit into their HSA account This (bill) will provide individuals with ready access to health care while encouraging them to become more engaged in the process of obtaining health care."

Mr. President, helping Americans afford insurance saves money in the long run. Between $65 billion and $130 billion of public health dollars are spent on treating acute patients. Much of this could be saved if only those individuals received preventative care.

Making health insurance more affordable will make a real difference to the Nation's physical and economic health. I am proud of Alaskans and all Americans who have united during National Cover the Uninsured Week and are bringing attention to this national health care crisis. I ask my colleagues to take an important step in helping the uninsured by supporting the Helping Working Americans Afford Health Insurance Act of 2006.

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