[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 215 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 215

Recognizing the need to move the Nation's current health care delivery 
              system toward a defined contribution system.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 14, 2005

  Mr. Price of Georgia submitted the following resolution; which was 
 referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to 
the Committees on Education and the Workforce and Ways and Means, for a 
 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
                          committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Recognizing the need to move the Nation's current health care delivery 
              system toward a defined contribution system.

Whereas eighty-two percent of the United States population has health insurance 
        coverage;
Whereas more than sixty-two percent of the people in the United States receive 
        their health insurance, either directly or indirectly, through the 
        workplace;
Whereas with our current third-party model, employers determine health benefits, 
        dictate costs for individuals and families, and hold the contract with 
        the insurance company;
Whereas nearly nine-out-of-ten companies with fewer than two hundred employees 
        offer only one health plan, and fifty-three percent of all workers 
        offered employer-provided coverage have no more than two options;
Whereas with employer-provided health care there is a lack of individual 
        ownership and personal choice for the employee;
Whereas the rise of employer-sponsored health insurance plans has led employees 
        to believe they are receiving free coverage, while economists have shown 
        that workers forgo higher wages in lieu of health benefits;
Whereas Americans pay higher prices for fewer choices under our current third-
        party model;
Whereas our current health care system places the patient further from decisions 
        made regarding their own health care;
Whereas health insurers would be more responsive to individuals and families if 
        health insurance policies were owned by the person most directly 
        affected by the coverage;
Whereas defined contribution plans provide for individual ownership of health 
        insurance policies; and
Whereas it is a reasonable national goal to have a health care system which 
        allows patients much more control and greater input into their very 
        personal health care decisions: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved,  That the House of Representatives--
            (1) recognizes that the current third-party model prevents 
        individuals from having immediate control and ownership over 
        critical health care decisions;
            (2) recognizes the excessive costs of the current health 
        care delivery system;
            (3) recognizes that flaws within the current health care 
        delivery system contribute to the number of uninsured in the 
        United States;
            (4) recognizes that defined contribution plans provide 
        patients greater power to select their health care provider and 
        preferred treatment; and
            (5) recommends that the United States Congress move the 
        Nation's current health care delivery system toward a defined 
        contribution system so that individuals gain direct ownership 
        of their health care insurance policies.
                                 <all>