[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 39 (Monday, October 2, 2000)]
[Pages 2248-2249]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on Progress in Providing Health Insurance Coverage

September 28, 2000

    New data released today by the Census Bureau show that the number of 
Americans without health insurance dropped significantly last year--the 
first such decline in 12 years. The 1.7 million decline in the 
uninsured--including over 1 million children--is making a real 
difference in these Americans' lives. It means that they are likely to 
receive needed medical care, less likely to be hospitalized for 
avoidable conditions like pneumonia or uncontrolled diabetes, and less 
likely to rely on an emergency room as their primary source of care. 
Clearly, access to affordable, high-quality insurance makes a 
difference.
    I am extremely pleased with today's announcement. I believe it 
validates our health care and economic policies, which have helped the 
country begin to reverse the unacceptable numbers of uninsured in this 
country. I am particularly proud that the enactment of the Children's 
Health Insurance Program and our success in maintaining a strong 
economy--which led to increases in employer-based coverage--have laid 
the foundation for this turnaround.
    Although I am pleased with today's development, there is much work 
to be done. The data from this report well document that the States that 
most aggressively conducted outreach campaigns to eligible populations 
have been the most successful at enrolling children. We need to 
encourage States that are not doing as well to accelerate their 
activities in reaching out to uninsured children. And we need to provide 
targeted programs to build on our success.
    Today I want to once again call on the Congress to pass my 
bipartisan health care coverage initiative, including the Vice 
President's proposal to expand coverage to parents, as well as our 
initiatives that would expand coverage to 55 to 65 year olds, workers 
between jobs, employees of small businesses, and legal immigrants. My 
balanced budget shows that we have the resources to do this while still 
paying down the debt by 2012. It's

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long past time that we take the next step towards expanding coverage and 
making the Nation's uninsured one of our top priorities.