[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 35 (Friday, March 22, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2321-S2322]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                  ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE ACT

  Ms. LANDRIEU Mr. President, I am in support of a piece of 
legislation offered by my good friend and colleague from Maine, Senator 
Collins. Before I begin, I would like to take this opportunity to 
commend her for her distinguished leadership in this area. Throughout 
her career as a U.S. Senator, she has worked hard to develop laws that 
reflect the healthcare needs of the people of Maine and of the Nation. 
Each and every proposal to help increase access to health care that she 
has put forward has been based on sound principles and innovative 
strategies. This bill is no exception.
  Almost 39 million Americans have no access to health insurance. In 
Louisiana, almost 1 million people go to bed each night worried about 
what they would do if they or their family member becomes seriously 
ill. That is one out of five people in our State. As a result, a great 
number of Americans are forced to decide between medical treatment and 
other life essentials such as food and shelter or worse, forgo 
treatment all together. The research has confirmed for us what common 
sense has lead us to believe all along. In a recent survey, 39 percent 
of those Americans without insurance said that they put off necessary 
medical treatments or tests because they could not afford them.
  In order to understand the issues affecting the uninsured, it is 
important that we ask ourselves, who are the uninsured? Nearly 30 
percent of the 39 million uninsured Americans are women of child 
bearing age; 12 million of the uninsured are children. More than 8 out 
of 10 uninsured are in working families. Nearly 8 out of every 10 are 
middle income. These statistics point to serious gaps in our health 
care delivery system, gaps that can and need to be filled
  This bill attempts to fill these gaps. The Access to Affordable 
Health Care Act, which I am introducing today, is a seven-point plan 
that combines a variety of public and private approaches to

[[Page S2322]]

make quality health care coverage more affordable and available. The 
bill focuses on three key populations: small business employees; 
pregnant women and children as well as working individuals. In 
addition, it supports programs targeted at providing these populations 
greater access to affordable coverage. Let me explain in greater 
detail.
  The Access to Affordable Health Care Act establishes a tax credit for 
small businesses to help meet the company's cost of providing health 
insurance. In addition, it provides grants to help states develop 
health insurance cooperatives for small companies.
  The Access to Affordable Health Care Act gives states the option to 
expand the Children's Health Insurance Program for pregnant women and 
eligible children. Because of statewide efforts under LACHIP, more than 
100,000 Louisiana children now have health insurance.
  The Access to Affordable Health Care Act provides a refundable tax 
credit for low and middle income workers who don't have employer-
provided coverage. It also improves the welfare-to-work transition by 
bridging the gap when newly employed workers lose their Medicaid 
coverage.
  Providing access to insurance is not only the right thing to do it is 
the smart thing to do. Uninsured patients are 3 times more likely to 
require hospitalization for avoidable conditions. The uninsured have a 
greater chance of being diagnosed with late stage cancer. They are 2 
times as likely to die of breast cancer. Because they are often unable 
to avail themselves on preventive care, the majority of medical 
attention they receive is catastrophic and delivered by an emergency 
room. What these statistics show is that when we provide greater access 
to health insurance we not only save lives, but we also save millions 
of dollars in long term health care costs.
  Again, I want to thank my colleague from Maine for her efforts in 
producing this important legislation. I look forward to working with 
her and other like minded colleagues towards reaching the day when all 
Americans are insured.

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