30-Something Caucus Reports

30-SOMETHING CAUCUS REPORTS -- (House of Representatives - May 11, 2004)

The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Chocola). Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 7, 2003, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Ryan) is recognized for half the time until midnight, approximately 36 minutes.

Mr. RYAN of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, we are here on our second weekly 30-something working group, and I am joined by the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Meek). We started this last week on Tuesday. Every Tuesday night we are going to come here and talk about issues facing the young people, not only in our own communities in Florida or in the State of Ohio, not only young people who are at universities or private schools throughout the country, but people who are in their 20s, in their 30s and the kinds of challenges they are facing in society here today.

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Ms. LINDA T. SÁNCHEZ of California. It is really great to be here. We are also joined by another colleague of ours, the gentleman from Alabama (Mr. Davis). Just to catch the tail end of your conversation, I wanted to say that there seems to be something wrong when people are advocating that young people get involved in politics and express their opinions and vote, and you have 18- to 35-year-olds who want to do just that and then the rules are set up in such a way that make it nearly impossible for them to participate. There is something wrong with a democracy that does not embrace making it easier for folks to participate in the political process and exercise their right to be heard.

Not to get off topic, but one of the things that I wanted to talk about a little bit this evening is a subject that is troubling not just for students, for a lot of young adults all across America, folks that may have graduated from college and been out in the workforce for several years, but that is the need for access to health care. I can remember myself when I was at UCLA law school right after I graduated, there was this intense pressure to find a job, and I had this fear during the period when I was studying for my bar exam, I had this fear because I was not covered by any health insurance, this fear that if I did not get a job quickly after taking the bar, that I was pretty much going to be on my own where health care was concerned. I was fortunate in that when I graduated from law school, I graduated in a somewhat healthy economy and there were quite a number of employment opportunities that presented themselves.

But today students are not so lucky. They are graduating from universities and the job market is very dismal for them. Not only does that mean that they are going to have to struggle without having an income after they graduate and the thought of student loans on top of it, but chances are they probably will not be covered by any type of health care. As we rapidly approach the months of May and June, a lot of college students are going to be graduating and finding themselves in the situation that I have just described.

I know of one particular instance in which a female college student recently shared a story with me regarding her personal hardship where health care was concerned. She is about to graduate from college in California and just received a scare by testing positive for an ovarian cyst. She does not know where to turn. She does not have any idea where she is going to get the money to pay for the necessary procedures; and if this situation is not bad enough because she is a student, currently some of the things are covered by student health, but imagine if she had just graduated and were covered by no health insurance whatsoever, she might not even be aware of the situation that she is in because she might not have gone to the doctor to be tested. I am sure she is not alone in that situation.

I do not know what it is about young people, and to young people that may be watching this, I say you absolutely have a right to affordable and accessible health care. Do not think because you are young that that is one of the dues that you have to pay. You absolutely should have access to affordable health care. Do not sell yourself short and do not demand anything less. Do not think that because you are young, the government can ignore you. You have an opportunity. You have a voice. Exercise it. You have an opportunity to try to shape the policy that this Nation abides by. Be vocal about that.

We have seen the number of people who are uninsured in this country continue to rise. That is just not the people that are uninsured, but there are many people who are underinsured, which means they have very superficial health care benefits; they are not really meaningful, they have high premiums, they have high deductibles. That means that people have just one more worry as they are starting out and embarking on what should be the rest of their lives and a positive experience.

Four years ago, the President promised us action on health care but every year since then, more and more Americans have lost their health insurance. It is particularly dramatic in young people. Young adults comprise a disproportionately large share of the Nation's uninsured. Despite only representing 15 percent of the population, young adults account for 30 percent of those who go without health care in our country.

It is a shame that an industrialized, modern society, supposedly the greatest country in the world, cannot find a way to make sure that every person in this country has access to health care. Those of you who are listening, all of us here on the floor tonight that are talking about these issues that impact young folks, we are fighting like crazy to try to make sure that big HMOs and pharmaceutical companies are not the ones that are receiving the benefits of the health care policy that we pass in this House. We are urging that 12 million young adults who currently find themselves without access to health care, to get involved politically, talk to your Representatives, let them know how critical this issue is for you.

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