[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 22]
[Senate]
[Pages 30892-30893]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         HEALTHY AMERICANS ACT

  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, today, I join a bipartisan group of 
Senators in support of the Healthy Americans Act. This legislation 
marks the beginning of what I hope will be a growing bipartisan effort 
to address one of our most daunting domestic challenges--health care 
reform. Historically, the issue of health care and how to solve our 
growing crisis has divided us, but we must find a way to come together 
and provide leadership on an issue that is central to the lives and 
finances of millions of Americans.
  There are over 47 million uninsured people in America today; another 
16 million are underinsured. Diminished health and shorter life spans 
due to lack of health insurance cost an estimated $65 to $130 billion 
annually. Meanwhile, an estimated $35 billion in uncompensated care is 
delivered to uninsured individuals annually.
  The ever-rising costs of health care are being felt by all Americans, 
not only those who are uninsured. When I speak to constituents in my 
home State of Connecticut, I am struck by the number of currently 
insured families who worry about maintaining that coverage. With 
premiums rising more rapidly than wages, it is increasingly difficult 
for these families to continue to afford their coverage.
  And the costs are certain to continue rising. Health spending between 
2006 and 2015 will total $30.3 trillion and will grow at an average 
rate of 7.2 percent--2.3 percent higher than the average annual GDP 
growth rate. To bring the growth in health care spending into line with 
the annual GDP growth rate, we would need to decrease health care 
spending by $3 trillion over this period.
  But while we spend more than any other nation in the world on health 
care, Americans do not receive the highest quality of care. A 2003 
study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that in 
the U.S., appropriate medical care is provided to individuals 
approximately 50 percent of the time.
  It is clear that we must work across party and ideological lines to 
cover those that are uninsured in this Nation, provide health security 
to those hardworking families with insurance, bring the rising costs of 
health care under control, and provide high quality care to all. In the 
past, I have advocated for, and have proposed, targeted reforms to our 
health care system. I proposed the creation of a program called 
MediKids to insure all children in America from the moment of their 
birth to 25 years of age. Families would choose from a menu of private 
health care plans and pay based on their income. And for the millions 
of uninsured adults in the U.S., I proposed the establishment of a 
program called MediChoice, which would create large pools of coverage 
to bring the cost of health insurance down, and would provide the 
uninsured, the self-employed, and small business employees with 
affordable private health insurance options. In addition, my plan would 
have included a new program called FairCare to reduce racial 
disparities, increased the number of school-based health centers around 
the Nation, reinvested in our public health infrastructure, and 
provided new funds and incentives for the improvement and adoption of 
health information technology. Lastly, my health care proposal included 
a new strategic investment in promising breakthroughs in biomedical 
research to bring new treatments, diagnostics, and cures to the public. 
I will continue to support these incremental reforms as we move 
forward.
  But as our health care system shows increasing signs of strain and 
growing numbers of Americans join the ranks of the uninsured, I also 
believe that we must seriously consider comprehensive, systemic reform 
to achieve the goal of quality, affordable health care for all 
Americans.
  For that reason, I am proud to support the Healthy Americans Act, a 
strong proposal that provides this Congress with a bipartisan starting 
point on health care reform.
  The Healthy Americans Act has the potential to offer universal 
coverage while using a fiscally responsible approach, which I believe 
are the keys to moving forward in a bipartisan manner. The legislation 
would reform the tax code in a well-thought out manner to make 
comprehensive health care reform a true possibility. By realigning key 
provisions in the Tax Code, this legislation would achieve universal 
coverage without adding yet another burden to the Federal budget. The 
legislation would also shield American business from ever-rising health 
care costs and, by unleashing market forces, protect the economy by 
reining in overall health care costs--all while reassuring our families 
that their health care will always be there.
  An independent health care consulting group found that through new 
revenues, savings, and the restructuring of tax credits, the Healthy 
Americans Act would not result in new Federal spending. The group also 
projects that the proposal would reduce the annual health spending 
growth rate by 0.86 percent totaling a savings of $1.48 trillion from 
2007-2016, or 4.5 percent of total spending over that time period. 
Lastly, the group estimates that the proposal would cover 99 percent of 
all Americans.
  The act would establish a centrally financed system of private health 
insurance for all Americans. Comprehensive coverage policies would be 
available through new insurance pools, which would harness the power of 
a reformed health insurance marketplace that would provide individuals 
with choice and value. The plan would be paid for by eliminating the 
current employer health benefits tax exclusion, which is estimated to 
cost the Federal Government approximately $200 billion per year. 
Instead, subsidies would be provided to lower income and working 
families to purchase comprehensive coverage. Employers, in turn, would 
convert the health benefits they currently provide to employees into 
higher wages that employees would use to buy health insurance. Lastly, 
individuals would also receive a new health insurance premium tax 
deduction to prevent tax increases in middle-income workers resulting 
from the higher wages.
  This proposal embodies both the foundation and architecture for 
building a health care system that will achieve universal coverage. 
Each of the stakeholders in our health care system--from individual 
Americans, employers, to insurance companies, health care providers and 
hospitals--will gain something under this plan. I believe this 
legislation offers crucial benefits for all stakeholders while calling 
on them to make equitable, economically efficient contributions to the 
shared effort of achieving health security for all Americans.
  As we move through what I hope will be a successful legislative 
process, I will be working with my colleagues to ensure that we perfect 
the balance this bill strives to reach. That effort will be crucial for 
my home State of Connecticut. First, nearly 60 percent of Americans 
currently receive coverage through their employers, and in Connecticut, 
more than 60 percent of our workers are covered through employers. We 
must move cautiously and ensure we protect coverage for those currently 
a part of the system that has served us for decades, and provide 
American businesses with the support necessary to make short-term 
changes in benefits, in exchange for long-term cost savings and 
increased competitiveness. At the same time, moving away from a 
primarily employer-based system of coverage would provide individuals 
with true portability and stability of coverage, while, again, 
protecting competitiveness of American businesses against runaway 
health care coverage costs, in this new global economy.
  Second, the legislation as currently drafted would mandate that 
employers provide employees higher benefits equivalent to the amount 
that employers currently contribute for employee health care benefits. 
We should consider the prudence of safeguards following a mandate 
period in order to prevent employees from facing wage cuts that would 
reduce their capacity to purchase comprehensive coverage.

[[Page 30893]]

  Third, a new health premium tax exemption will be created by this 
legislation so that most workers are not paying higher taxes with the 
increase in wages, which are to be used for the purchase of health 
insurance. But in many States, such as mine, the cost of living and 
cost of health insurance are higher than in other parts of the nation, 
placing unique pressures on residents of those States. Therefore, I 
plan to work with Senator Wyden and the other sponsors of the act to 
move in a direction that will take account of differences in health 
insurance coverage costs, as well as in cost of living.
  Lastly, the proposal would transition Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries 
into the new program. Given the complex health needs of many Medicaid 
beneficiaries, we must ensure that they have the necessary levels of 
coverage under any new system. I look forward to working with my 
colleagues on each of these issues.
  I applaud the efforts of my colleagues, Senators Wyden and Bennett, 
and of the bipartisan group that is supporting this legislation, and I 
am proud to join them. If we put aside partisan politics and muster 
political will, we can provide the American people with true leadership 
on this most important domestic policy issue, and can succeed in 
bringing quality health care to all Americans.

                          ____________________