[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 45 (Thursday, March 20, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4179-S4180]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 96--TO EXPRESS THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE 
  FEDERAL INVESTMENT IN PROGRAMS THAT PROVIDE HEALTH CARE SERVICES TO 
UNINSURED AND LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUALS IN MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS BE 
  INCREASED IN ORDER TO DOUBLE ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE OVER THE NEXT 5 
                                 YEARS

  Mr. BOND (for himself and Mr. Hollings) submitted the following 
resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Appropriations.

                               S. Res. 96

       Whereas the uninsured population in the United States is 
     approximately 43,000,000 and is estimated to reach over 
     53,000,000 people by 2007;
       Whereas nearly 80 percent of the uninsured population are 
     members of working families who cannot afford health 
     insurance or cannot access employer-provided health insurance 
     plans;
       Whereas minority populations, rural residents, and single-
     parent families represent a disproportionate number of the 
     uninsured population;
       Whereas the problem of health care access for the uninsured 
     population is compounded in many urban and rural communities 
     by a lack of providers who are available to serve both 
     insured and uninsured populations;
       Whereas community, migrant, homeless, and public housing 
     health centers have proven uniquely qualified to address the 
     lack of adequate health care services for uninsured 
     populations, serving more than 5,000,000 uninsured patients 
     in 2002;
       Whereas health centers care for nearly 14,000,000 patients, 
     including nearly 9,000,000 minorities, nearly 850,000 
     farmworkers, and almost 750,000 homeless individuals each 
     year;
       Whereas health centers provide cost-effective comprehensive 
     primary and preventive care to uninsured individuals for 
     nearly $1.00 per day, or $425 annually, and help to reduce 
     the inappropriate use of costly emergency rooms and inpatient 
     hospital care;

[[Page S4180]]

       Whereas current resources only allow health centers to 
     serve 12 percent of the Nation's 43,000,000 uninsured 
     individuals;
       Whereas past investments to increase health center access 
     have resulted in better health, an improved quality of life 
     for all Americans, and a reduction in national health care 
     expenditures;
       Whereas Congress has already begun to increase access to 
     health care services for uninsured and low-income people in 
     advance of health care coverage proposals by expanding the 
     availability of services at community, migrant, homeless, and 
     public housing health centers; and
       Whereas the President has proposed to double the number of 
     people served by health centers: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This resolution may be cited as the ``Resolution to Expand 
     Access to Community Health Centers (REACH) Initiative''.

     SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

       It is the sense of the Senate that appropriations for 
     consolidated health centers under section 330 of the Public 
     Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b) should be increased by 
     100 percent over 5 fiscal years, ending in 2006, in order to 
     double the number of individuals who receive health care 
     services at community, migrant, homeless, and public housing 
     health centers.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce important 
legislation, the Resolution to Expand Access to Community Health 
Centers, or the REACH Initiative. This resolution will continue to 
expand access to health care for the medically underserved by doubling 
funding for our nation's community health centers. I am joined in this 
effort by my good friend from South Carolina, Sen. Hollings.
  The goal of the REACH Initiative is simple--to make sure more people 
have access to health care. During the last session of Congress we set 
out an ambitious plan to double the federal funding for community 
health centers by 2006. Congress responded by increasing the funding 
for the program and now we are calling on Congress to continue this 
effort and complete the doubling plan.
  Health centers are already helping millions of Americans get health 
care. But they can still help millions more--pregnant women, children, 
and anyone else who desperately needs care. The REACH Initiative will 
allow another 10 million women, children, and others in need to receive 
care at health centers by 2006. And since we began this effort, we've 
already increased the number of health center patients by nearly 3 
million, and increased federal funding by nearly 30 percent. We're on 
track, we just need to stay there; and that's just what this resolution 
will do--keep us on track to double this important program.
  Simply put, we must achieve the goal of the REACH initiative--and we 
can and should make it happen.
  Let me close with what this initiative means in human terms.
  The REACH initiative will help make sure that a young woman who has 
just found out she is pregnant but does not have health insurance has a 
place to get prenatal care so she does not risk her health and the 
baby's health by waiting until late in the pregnancy.
  The REACH initiative will help make sure that a 6-year-old boy who is 
living in a deep rural Missouri community, a community that otherwise 
would not have any health care providers at all, has a place to get 
regular checkups so he can stay healthy at home and in school.
  The REACH initiative will help make sure a young couple without any 
place to go will be able to get their infant daughter immunized to 
protect her from a variety of dreaded disease.
  These Americans, and millions like them, are the reasons why we must 
make the REACH Initiative a reality. I invite my colleagues to join me 
as a cosponsor of this resolution. If we work together, we can make a 
difference and deliver care to those who are in the greatest need.

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