[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 29, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11120-S11121]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     CONGRESS NEEDS TO ACT ON HEALTH INSURANCE FOR WORKING FAMILIES

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, this weekend, the New York Times reported 
on the latest data on Americans without health insurance. According to 
the Census Bureau, the number of uninsured has now reached 43.4 million 
of our fellow citizens--an increase of 1.7 million since last year. 
This increase is on top of the growth in the uninsured of one million 
last year. The proportion of Americans without health insurance is now 
higher than it has been for more than a decade. It is especially 
ominous that this increase in the number of uninsured has occurred at a 
time when the economy is strong and joblessness is low.
  Congress should be addressing this issue, but the Republican 
leadership is just not interested. What is important to average 
families is not important to them. Whether the issue is protecting 
patients against the abuses of managed care, or protecting the public 
against the tobacco industry, or saving social security, or raising the 
minimum wage, or improving education, or closing the loopholes in the 
campaign financing laws, the Republican leadership just doesn't think 
it is a priority. Their primary goal is to protect the special 
interests--not to protect American families.
  The plight of workers without health insurance--and of families that 
may be protected today but could lose their insurance tomorrow--is a 
particularly compelling example of the need for action. Under President 
Clinton's leadership, Democrats in Congress have repeatedly tried to 
address this problem four years ago--Republicans always say, ``no.'' 
Millions of Americans have suffered because we failed to act. 
Addressing this crisis is clearly a priority

[[Page S11121]]

for Democrats and the nation, and it ought to be a priority for 
Republicans too.
  We have taken incremental steps in recent years. We have made it 
easier for workers who change jobs to keep their health insurance, and 
we have expanded coverage for children. These efforts were resisted 
every step of the way by the Republican leadership in Congress. The new 
Census Bureau report confirms what everyone who deals with this problem 
already knows--these limited steps, as important as they are, are not 
nearly enough.
  It should be unacceptable that 43 million Americans have no health 
insurance today. It should be intolerable that no American family can 
be confident that the health insurance they have today will be there 
for them tomorrow, if serious illness strikes. It is indefensible that 
this Congress is doing nothing to keep this problem from getting worse 
every year.
  The vast majority--85%--of uninsured Americans are workers or members 
of their families. These citizens work hard--40 hours a week, 52 weeks 
of the year in most cases--but all their hard work cannot buy them the 
health insurance they need to protect their families, because they 
can't afford it and their employers won't provide it.
  Every uninsured American is an American tragedy waiting to happen. 
Infants lose their chance to grow up strong and healthy because they do 
not get basic prenatal and post-natal care. A young family loses its 
livelihood because a breadwinner cannot afford needed medical care. 
Middle-aged parents see their savings swept away by a tidal wave of 
medical debt.

  Earlier this year, I proposed legislation that be an important step 
toward the day when every job carries with it a guarantee of affordable 
health care, so that every family can be confident that the quality of 
its health will not be determined by the amount of its wealth.
  Every business is expected to pay a minimum wage, and to obey the 
child labor laws. Every business is expected to provide safe and 
healthy working conditions, and to protect against injury on the job 
through worker's compensation. Every business is expected to contribute 
to retirement through Social Security, and to the health needs of the 
elderly through Medicare. It is long past time for businesses also to 
contribute to the cost of basic health insurance coverage for their 
workers.
  Some small firms may have special problems that call for special 
solutions. But there is no excuse for large firms to avoid their 
responsibility to provide affordable health insurance for their 
workers.
  Under the bill I proposed, businesses with 50 or more workers will be 
required to provide health insurance coverage. Approximately half of 
all uninsured employees and their families--15 million people--will 
gain the coverage they need and deserve. This legislation is a giant 
step toward the day when every American will be guaranteed the 
fundamental right to health care.
  Many--even most--businesses already provide insurance. The vast 
majority of large businesses fulfill this obligation. But too many 
others do not. In more and more cases, unfair competition from firms 
that refuse to provide insurance for their workers is compelling other 
firms to reduce health benefits or drop coverage altogether.
  Health insurance for working Americans does not have to mean complex 
regulations or excessive government intervention. The legislation I 
introduced was simple--less than ten pages. it will not cost taxpayers 
a dime. It includes no specific mandated benefits or burdensome red 
tape. it simply says that every business with 50 workers or more must 
offer its employees coverage equal in value to the Blue Cross/Blue 
Shield Standard Option Plan that is available to every Senator and 
Representative, and must pay at least 72% of the cost--the same 
proportion that taxpayers contribute for every member of Congress.
  The American people deserve health care for their families that is 
every bit as good as the health care they provide to every member of 
Congress. Shame on the Congress for ignoring this need. Shame on the 
Republican leadership for its misguided priorities.
  When the people go to the polls in November, they deserve to know who 
stands with the special interests and who stands with families who need 
affordable health coverage.
  When the new Congress returns next year, I will do everything I can 
to assure that health care for every American is as high on that 
Congress's priority list as it is on the priority list of American 
families. It is time to end the suffering. It is time for Americans to 
join every other country in the industrialized world and guarantee its 
citizens the basic right to health care.

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