[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 30, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5613-S5614]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 41--DIRECTING CONGRESS TO ENACT 
   LEGISLATION BY OCTOBER 2005 THAT PROVIDES ACCESS TO COMPREHENSIVE 
                     HEALTH CARE FOR ALL AMERICANS

  Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. Corzine, and Mr. Feingold) submitted 
the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:

                            S. Con. Res. 41

       Whereas the United States has the most expensive health 
     care system in the world in terms of absolute costs, per 
     capita costs, and percentage of gross domestic product (GDP);
       Whereas despite being first in spending, the World Health 
     Organization has ranked the United States 37th among all 
     nations in terms of meeting the needs of its people;
       Whereas 42,000,000 Americans, including 8,000,000 children, 
     are uninsured;
       Whereas tens of millions more Americans are inadequately 
     insured, including medicare beneficiaries who lack access to 
     prescription drug coverage and long term care coverage;
       Whereas racial, income, and ethnic disparities in access to 
     care threaten communities across the country, particularly 
     communities of color;
       Whereas health care costs continue to increase, 
     jeopardizing the health security of working families and 
     small businesses;
       Whereas dollars that could be spent on health care are 
     being used for administrative costs instead of patient needs;
       Whereas the current health care system too often puts the 
     bottom line ahead of patient care and threatens safety net 
     providers who treat the uninsured and poorly insured; and
       Whereas any health care reform must ensure that health care 
     providers and practitioners are able to provide patients with 
     the quality care they need: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress shall enact legislation by October 
     2005 to guarantee that every person in the United States, 
     regardless of income, age, or employment or health status, 
     has access to health care that--
       (1) is affordable to individuals and families, businesses 
     and taxpayers and that removes financial barriers to needed 
     care;
       (2) is as cost efficient as possible, spending the maximum 
     amount of dollars on direct patient care;
       (3) provides comprehensive benefits, including benefits for 
     mental health and long term care services;
       (4) promotes prevention and early intervention;
       (5) includes parity for mental health and other services;
       (6) eliminates disparities in access to quality health 
     care;
       (7) addresses the needs of people with special health care 
     needs and underserved populations in rural and urban areas;
       (8) promotes quality and better health outcomes;
       (9) addresses the need to have adequate numbers of 
     qualified health care caregivers, practitioners, and 
     providers to guarantee timely access to quality care;

[[Page S5614]]

       (10) provides adequate and timely payments in order to 
     guarantee access to providers;
       (11) fosters a strong network of health care facilities, 
     including safety net providers;
       (12) ensures continuity of coverage and continuity of care;
       (13) maximizes consumer choice of health care providers and 
     practitioners; and
       (14) is easy for patients, providers and practitioners to 
     use and reduces paperwork.
  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, I submit this measure today to call 
attention to one of the most serious injustices in our country. 42 
million Americans lack access to quality, affordable health care 
because they have no health insurance. Most of these Americans work in 
full-time jobs, but still cannot afford the high cost of health care. 
As a result, hospital emergency rooms are their only doctor. They face 
impossible choices in paying for the medicine they need on top of 
paying the rent, or putting food on the table. As a result, they die 
younger. Yet, the richest and most powerful Nation in the world looks 
the other way.
  For half a century, the United States has led the world in scientific 
and medical advances. We have more Nobel Prize winners in medicine than 
any other Nation. We were the first to successfully decode the entire 
human genome. And yet, we cannot see that every American child gets 
vaccinated against deadly and disabling diseases. We fail to guarantee 
that all Americans can obtain the medical treatments that could save 
their lives.
  Every year, 8 million uninsured Americans fail to take their 
medications because they can't afford to pay for their prescriptions. 
300,000 children with asthma never get treated by a doctor. Uninsured 
women diagnosed with breast cancer are 50 percent more likely to die 
from the disease, because their cancer is diagnosed too late. 32,000 
Americans with heart disease go without life-saving bypass surgery or 
other treatments.
  And the problem is getting worse. For most of the past 16 years, the 
number of people without health insurance has increased. Now, when our 
economy is weak, health care costs are rising at double-digit rates. 
People are losing jobs and their health insurance too. States are 
cutting back on Medicaid care for the poor. If we do nothing, the 
number of uninsured could reach more than 52 million by 2010. Clearly, 
the time to act is now.
  We must pass legislation to ensure that every man, woman, and child 
in the United States has access to high quality, affordable health 
care. And we must do it soon.
  Some say we cannot afford the cost of covering the uninsured. But as 
a country, we are already paying the much higher costs of failing to 
provide good care for all. We pay for it when we fail to detect cancer 
early by using the preventive screening that we know is effective. We 
pay for it in every person with diabetes who becomes blind because of a 
disease we know how to control. We pay for it by failing to give every 
child the same opportunity for good health and a productive life.
  We know that the battle for affordable health care has never been 
easy. But to solve this problem, we must commit to working together to 
find a solution. That is why I am submitting this resolution. This 
measure does not endorse a specific plan to cover the uninsured, but it 
does state unequivocally that universal health care is our goal, and it 
sets a time for Congress to get the job done.
  A similar resolution has already been submitted in the House of 
Representatives and has received the strong support of our 470 
organizations, including many groups representing patients, health 
providers, and faith-based organizations.
  Democrats are leading the charge in Congress in the fight for quality 
health care for all Americans--and, as Congressman Gephardt has shown 
with his recent proposal, Democrats are prepared to take this issue to 
the White House as well.
  I urge my colleagues to join in supporting this resolution to enact 
bipartisan legislation to provide health care for all Americans by the 
end of the year 2005. Perhaps we can do it earlier, but at least we are 
setting a realistic goal--the end of the first session of the Congress 
elected in 2004. The time is long overdue for the United States of 
America to join the rest of the industrial world in recognizing this 
fundamental right.

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