[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 26 (Wednesday, March 3, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Page S2109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER:
  S. 2161. A bill to amend title 5, United States Code, to establish a 
national health program administered by the Office of Personnel 
Management to offer Federal employee health benefits plans to 
individuals who are not Federal employees, and for other purposes; to 
the Committee on Finance.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, over 43 million Americans are uninsured, 
which means that one in every 7 Americans has no health insurance. It 
is not surprising that two-thirds of the uninsured are low-income. What 
may be surprising to some is that most of the uninsured--8 in 10--come 
from working families. Most of these uninsured are not eligible for 
public health insurance programs, such as Medicaid or SCHIP.
  Lack of health insurance too often means poorer health care. The 
uninsured receive less preventive care, are diagnosed at more advanced 
disease stages, and once diagnosed, tend to receive less therapeutic 
care. The Institute of Medicine estimates that 18,000 Americans die 
prematurely each year due to the effects of a lack of health insurance.
  The plight of the uninsured has consequences that reach beyond the 
uninsured. In 2001, the uninsured amounted to about $35 billion in 
uncompensated care. Those costs are borne by all of us through higher 
health care costs and government-funded reimbursements.
  Furthermore, the Institute of Medicine suggests that the reduced 
health and higher mortality of the uninsured costs society between $65 
billion and $130 billion a year, and concludes that public programs are 
likely to have higher budgetary costs than they would if everyone under 
65 had health insurance. In addition, the Urban Institute recently 
found that if people were covered by insurance, there could be savings 
to Medicare and Medicaid of $10 billion a year.
  Even those who have health insurance find it extremely expensive and 
of poor quality. It is time to expand access to affordable, quality 
health insurance for all Americans.
  The bill I am introducing today, the ``Universal Access to Affordable 
Insurance for All Americans Act of 2004,'' is a partial solution that 
will give Americans access to the same health insurance program as 
Members of Congress.
  It establishes a separate risk pool within the Federal Employee 
Health Benefit Program for individuals who wish to purchase individual 
or family coverage. The Office of Personnel Management would make at 
least one private health insurance plan available through the FEHBP to 
non-Federal employees. While individuals will have access to the same 
program as Federal employees, the entry of others into FEHBP will not 
affect Federal employees at all.
  My bill also makes this insurance affordable by establishing 
advanceable, refundable tax credits for certain low and middle-income 
participants. For those below poverty, the credit is 100 percent. The 
credit is gradually decreased up to 400 percent of poverty. So a family 
of 4 making $18,850 or less would receive a 100 percent credit. A 
family of 4 making $75,000 would receive a 30 percent credit.
  We need to begin implementing measures to provide all Americans with 
access to affordable health coverage. My bill is a step toward this 
goal.

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