[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 16]
[House]
[Page 21629]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE

  (Ms. HIRONO asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute.)
  Ms. HIRONO. Mr. Speaker, health insurance is not something we can 
take for granted. Every day, 14,000 Americans lose their coverage. A 
recent Treasury Department report noted that approximately half of all 
Americans under the age of 65 will lose their coverage at some point in 
the next 10 years.
  Thousands are denied coverage because of preexisting conditions, like 
asthma, pregnancy, arthritis or diabetes. Millions more have no health 
insurance at all.
  In Hawaii, public and private health insurance covers an estimated 92 
percent of our population. That means that most of us have health 
insurance and, because of our Prepaid Health Care Act, our coverage is 
among the best in the country.
  At the same time, Hawaii's economy has been hard hit, and our 
unemployment rate reached a 31-year high this past May, nearly doubling 
what it was just last year. Other States are similarly situated. H.R. 
3200 will provide affordable health care coverage for those who lose it 
or never had it.
  I urge my colleagues' support for health care reform now.

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