Oliver Announces Co-Sponsorship of Bills to Cover More that Half of American's Uninsured
OLVER ANNOUNCES CO-SPONSORSHIP OF BILLS TO COVER MORE THAN HALF OF AMERICA'S UNINSURED
WASHINGTON, D.C. Congressman John W. Olver (D-1st District) announced that he is co-sponsoring three bills being introduced this week that would expand access to affordable health insurance to more than half of all uninsured Americans.
"This week is Cover the Uninsured Week, and the problem of working Americans with no health insurance continues to grow," Olver said. "In fact, 45 million American citizens have no health insurance. Most of these individuals live in a household with at least one worker. In Massachusetts, 682,000 people are uninsured. This is an increase of 133,000 since 2000. And millions more struggle every day to pay rising health insurance premiums. This is wrong, and we need to act."
As part of Cover the Uninsured Week (May 1-8), House Democrats today introduced three bills to address the health insurance needs of three fast-growing, vulnerable segments of the uninsured community: low-income, near-elderly, and small business employees, including the self-employed.
Together, the bills the FamilyCare Act, the Medicare Early Access Act and the Small Business Health Insurance Promotion Act could provide health insurance more than 23 million uninsured Americans.
The Small Business Health Insurance Promotion Act would create a 50 percent tax credit to help small businesses and the self-employed with the costs of health coverage. Currently, more than half of America's uninsured workers are self-employed or work for a small business with fewer than 50 employees.
The FamilyCare Act would lower costs and expand affordable coverage for working parents by making the parents of children eligible for the State Children's Health Insurance Program and Medicaid also eligible for coverage. These working parents frequently work at jobs that do not provide access to employer-based insurance.
The Medicare Early Access Act would allow people between the ages of 55 and 64 to purchase Medicare coverage. Currently, there are 3.5 million uninsured people age 55 and over who are not yet eligible for Medicare.
A recent study analyzing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention further highlights the growing problem of uninsured Americans. The study shows that more than 20 million working adults do not have health insurance. The study further reveals that uninsured adults have more trouble seeing a doctor when they need to, are less likely to have a personal doctor or health care provider, and are more likely be in poor or fair health than adults who are insured.
The study, "Characteristics of the Uninsured: A View from the States," analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was released April 27, 2005 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).
Olver said, "I am proud to co-sponsor legislation to address the growing problem of the uninsured and extend coverage to more than half of uninsured Americans. Americans should be confident that whether they are working, changing jobs, are laid off or just nearing retirement age, they should be able to find affordable, quality health care. These common sense proposals will lower health care costs and provide affordable, quality and reliable coverage."
http://www.house.gov/olver/news/pr050504.html