National Cover the Uninsured Week

NATIONAL COVER THE UNINSURED WEEK -- (House of Representatives - May 11, 2005)

The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Davis) is recognized for 5 minutes.

Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to the fact that last week was the third annual National Cover the Uninsured Week.

The purpose of National Cover the Uninsured Week is to raise awareness of the problem of the uninsured and the need for reliable and affordable health care coverage. To this end, I shall briefly discuss the problem that we face as a Nation and call attention to some proposed movement towards solutions.

The challenge that we face as a Nation is grave. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 45 million Americans lack health coverage, a figure which includes 8 million children. In my home State of Illinois, 1,800,000 individuals lacked health coverage in 2003. This problem is not merely one of numbers, statistics, charts and figures. It impacts real live people in every State in the Nation.

Families forced to pay high medical bills out of pocket are the same families that default on loans, are unable to save for their children's education and are forced into bankruptcy. Children who lack coverage are children who are unable to get necessary preventative care or treatment. Additionally, the problem is the enormous burden on health care providers who sometimes must charge those who are covered more in order to care for those lacking coverage, as they are mandated to do in emergency situations. This situation only fuels the ever-increasing cost of health care in this country.

Sadly, I know all too well that I have not just shed light on a previously unknown problem. My colleagues in the House have surely heard this many times before. However, all of our talk has yet to provide solutions.

Fortunately, three bills have been introduced that will help to alleviate this grave and well-documented problem: the Medicare Early Access Act, the Family Care Act and the Small Business Health Insurance Promotion Act.

Together, these bills will help to expand access to Medicare to younger workers, provide incentive to States to extend the State Children's Health Insurance Program, CHIP, to working parents and eligible children, and make it easier for small businesses to cover their employees. It is quite possible that enactment of these proposals would extend coverage to 20 million more Americans.

While this is less than half of the total number of America's uninsured population, it is certainly a step in the right direction. After all, even a journey of 1,000 miles must begin with a single step. But the real deal is, Mr. Speaker, we need a national health plan, single payer, with everybody in, nobody out. Health care is indeed a right and not a privilege. Every American should have it.

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