On Jan. 27, I will be coming to Chicago with other senators to hold the sixth in a series of hearing across the U.S. on health care reform. The aim of these hearings-along with more than 200 health care town meetings held by House members on Jan. 14-is to hear directly from Americans about their concerns and priorities on health care.
The eloquent, often tragic stories we have heard to date reinforce how urgent the situation is. Americans from all walks of life have told us how they are struggling to cope with the skyrocketing costs of health care. America is in dramatic need of far-reaching health care reform-now.
According to new figures from the Commerce Department, we as a nation spent an incredible $738 billion on health care costs in 1991. That`s up from only $27 billion in 1960. Yet, despite this huge expenditure, 37 million Americans have no health insurance at all. Another 60 million are under-insured. An additional 1 million Americans lose their coverage every year.
The American health care system has turned the American dream into a nightmare for millions of people. Daily they are forced to make choices on whether to pay for medical care or the rent, the mortgage, or even the grocery bill. This is wrong. It ought not be the American way. Yet it could happen to any American.
In fact, nearly two-thirds of the 37 million Americans without health insurance are fully-employed workers or their dependents. The problem is even worse for those who have lost their jobs in the recession; they are more than twice as likely to lose their health coverage.
Just ask the 25,000 employees who lost their health coverage when Pan Am went bankrupt. Or the 4,300 workers who lost their jobs and health coverage when Midway Airlines closed its doors. Far too many Americans like those are just a pink slip or serious illness away from financial ruin.
Moreover, it isn`t only individual victims who are suffering. The small and large business leaders, nurses, doctors, hospital administrators, and state and local officials we talked to also believe America is in dire need of health care reform.
Leaders in the public and private sector are struggling to make the system work. Many are trying innovative, new approaches, sometimes with encouraging results. But almost to a person they agreed-they can`t do it alone. They need help from the federal government.
Several proposals have been introduced in Congress for comprehensive health care reform. Last June, other Democratic senators and I introduced S. 1227, Health America, a bill to provide quality, affordable health care to all.
Whatever approach we take, it must meet three fundamental objectives:
universal health insurance coverage, cost containment and greater emphasis on preventive care. We must also develop a comprehensive policy for the problem of long-term care.
Three years after promising to ”study the problem,” the Bush administration is only now exploring modest changes in our health care system. We can only hope President Bush makes a more meaningful proposal in his upcoming State of the Union speech.
Band-Aid solutions are not enough. The system desperately needs fixing. We can`t sit back and wait for a consensus to emerge on how to solve this crisis. We have to build that consensus. Our hearing in Chicago is part of that effort.
