[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 103 (Thursday, July 22, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1475]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               PROPOSED AMERICAN HEALTH BENEFITS PROGRAM

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                         HON. JAMES R. LANGEVIN

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 22, 2004

  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of a health care 
proposal that I am proud to introduce.
  For years now, elected officials at all levels of government have 
struggled to address the nation's health-care crisis, and meet the 
ever-increasing demand for affordable health care. A significant part 
of the population lacks access to the most basic health coverage. In 
2002, 43.6 million Americans were uninsured--80 percent of whom were 
members of working families. Closing this gap is one of the greatest 
domestic challenges our nation faces.
  As health-insurance premiums rise each year, businesses face 
difficult decisions. To maintain the same level of coverage, they must 
either cover these extra costs or pass them along to employees. Many 
business owners confront an even starker choice: Decrease benefits or 
drop coverage altogether.
  Those of us in Congress have a responsibility to ensure that no 
family is forced to go without health coverage. My proposal for 
meaningful health care reform requires a commitment from the government 
to act in the best interest of its citizens.
  A national template for this type of coverage--one that every Member 
of Congress is intimately familiar with--already exists: the Federal 
Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). Through the Office of 
Personnel Management (OPM), the federal government manages health 
insurance for more than 8 million federal employees, retirees and 
dependents. This program, composed of private insurance carriers, is 
administered by the federal government, which assumes responsibility 
for approving or disapproving carriers, negotiating benefit and rate 
changes, and auditing carriers' operations under the law. With 
incredibly low administrative costs and a below-average annual premium 
increase, the federal government has been able offer a wide variety of 
choices and protections to its employees and Members of Congress.
  My legislation offers a framework for a system wherein all Americans 
are offered the opportunity to participate in an FEHBP-style program--
called the American Health Benefits Program (AHBP). Under this design, 
all Americans not eligible for existing federal programs--such as 
TRICARE, Veterans Health Programs, Indian Health Services, Medicare and 
Medicaid will be required to participate. The government will provide a 
defined contribution toward every enrollee's premium and actively 
manage and regulate the process of informed consumer choice, motivating 
private insurance companies to produce a favorable combination of 
efficiency and equity. Plans will compete for enrollees on the basis of 
benefits as well as efficiency, service and price.

  Employers will be relieved of the annual burden of having to 
negotiate new health care packages for their employees. They will 
continue to play a critical role in the health care system through a 
flat tax on payroll--which promises to be more stable and consistent 
than premiums offered to them by insurance companies.
  It is time we started offering every American the kind of coverage 
and oversight that we, as Members of Congress, have come to rely upon. 
Health care is much more than an issue that polls well with voters. As 
elected officials, we must take the incremental steps needed to develop 
a universal health-care system that is affordable, high-quality and 
well managed.
  I firmly believe that health care is a basic inalienable right of 
every American. If we work together to address this critical issue, I 
know we can realize this goal.

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