[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 27, 2004)]
[House]
[Page H114]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1915
                   GOP AGENDA ON UNINSURED OF AMERICA

  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Neugebauer). Under a previous order of 
the House, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess) is recognized for 5 
minutes.
  Mr. BURGESS. Mr. Speaker, just last week in his State of the Union 
Address, the President brought before the House a three-point plan for 
helping reduce the number of uninsured Americans.
  Mr. Speaker, I was very grateful to hear the President's discussion 
of this plan. Of course, here in this House in November this year past, 
as part of the Medicare Modernization Act that we passed November 22, 
we also included a provision for health savings accounts.
  Health savings accounts, Mr. Speaker, are a program that has been 
near and dear to my heart for many years. My last 5 years of medical 
practice, I had a medical savings account, and I saw firsthand the 
value of being able to build that account, to build those dollars in a 
tax-free, tax-deferred account completely dedicated to health care 
needs.
  The new health savings accounts will give Americans more choice in 
their health care. Of course, they can choose their own physician and 
consult with their doctor about services they need and services they 
can afford, but it puts the consumer, it puts the patient, back in the 
driver's seat and actually gives them a stake, not just in their health 
outcome, but how their health dollars are spent.
  Mr. Speaker, I believe this is an extremely important point. I 
believe that putting consumers back in charge of how health care 
expenditures are made will be one way of reducing the cost of 
delivering care.
  Health savings accounts will give Americans health care that is much 
more portable than the current employer-derived accounts. As over half 
of all Americans receive their health care coverage through their 
employer, health savings accounts become even more important because if 
someone loses their job, of course they lose health care coverage; but 
with the health savings account, that money obviously would be rolled 
over and would continue to be there to cover the worker or their 
families.
  Health savings accounts promote savings and wealth generation. 
Currently, unfortunately, Mr. Speaker, Americans save only 2 percent of 
their annual income. The average in Western industrialized nations is 
around 10 percent. But with health savings accounts, we will promote 
savings and will promote wealth generation.
  Mr. Speaker, I need to point out, this is wealth that can be passed 
on from generation to generation. It is actually owned by that 
individual. It is not some program that when a person dies, that 
program goes away.
  Many health savings accounts generate a 4 percent return on 
investment, and with the miracle of compound interest, Mr. Speaker, 
that money can grow significantly over time. Of course, as the market 
continues to improve, some health savings accounts could generate a 
much higher return.
  Another program that the President mentioned and actually is no 
stranger to this House because we passed H.R. 660 last June, but 
Association Health Plans, Mr. Speaker, I believe, are a powerful tool 
in allowing small businesses to continue to provide employer-derived 
insurance for their employees.
  Right now, Mr. Speaker, small businesses are handicapped by high 
insurance prices and State mandates when shopping for health insurance. 
But Association Health Plans would allow bona fide business and trade 
associations to negotiate health care coverage rates with employers 
utilizing a much larger pool of employees, not just the individual 
small business employee pool. Removal of some State mandates, which a 
large majority of businesses avoid under ERISA, would assist small 
businesses by giving them the ability to shop for health coverage that 
meets the needs of their employees without the inclusion of extraneous 
and expensive State-mandated benefits.
  Mr. Speaker, the final program that was mentioned by the President in 
his State of the Union address, that is actually a bill that has been 
introduced by our neighbor, Kay Granger, in Fort Worth, involves tax 
credits for the uninsured.
  Tax credits are perhaps the best way and the most immediate way to 
help the 43 million Americans who have not been able to purchase health 
insurance. Fully refundable, prepaid tax credits would give low-income 
individuals and families immediate purchasing power in the health 
insurance market. Some studies estimate that there could be a 50 to 80 
percent reduction in the number of uninsured Americans if the Federal 
Government made available a fully refundable health insurance tax 
credit.
  Mr. Speaker, the other thing that we can do, and we have done in this 
House, but the other thing we can do at the Federal level to help with 
the problem of the uninsured is to reduce the enormous cost of the 
liability system, that burden that is placed on the health care 
delivery system in this country. I know this House has acted on that 
this past year, but our work is not through, and we need to encourage 
those Members of the other body who may be so inclined to move that 
legislation through their body.

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