Search:


In Washington, D.C.
2328 Rayburn House
Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-4071

In Michigan
Dearborn:
19855 West Outer Drive
Suite 103-E
Dearborn, MI 48124
(313) 278-2936

Monroe:
23 East Front Street
Suite 103
Monroe, MI 48161
(734) 243-1849

Ypsilanti:
5 South Washington Street
Ypsilanti, MI 48197
(734) 481-1100

CONGRESSMAN DINGELL - HEALTH INSURANCE FOR ALL AMERICANS

Text of Dingellcast 2- Health Insurance for All Americans

Hello, this is Congressman John D. Dingell and welcome to my podcast. This week's topic is one that is on the minds of many Americans and has been a very important part of my work on Capitol Hill, ensuring health insurance for every American. Currently, 45.8 million Americans have no health insurance, including more than 8 million children.

Unfortunately, this is not a new issue. It has plagued America for generations. My father attempted to tackle the uninsured problem over 60 years ago, yet political barriers blocked the nation's path to ensuring that every American had health insurance that they could rely upon.

Throughout the second half of the 20th century, we had some successes in incrementally insuring more Americans. Those include ensuring coverage for seniors and the poor through the cornerstone programs of Medicare and Medicaid, as well as for children through the Children's Health Insurance Program. Yet, while we have had some successes, too many Americans continue to fall through the cracks.

In 2004, approximately 1.1 million people of Michigan still lacked health insurance, one in five being children under the age of 18. Now many may say, 'Why don't those 1.1 million get a job?" The unfortunate answer is: most already have one.

Eight out of ten uninsured Americans are from working families. These hardworking Americans have jobs, play by the rules; yet cannot afford health coverage for themselves or their family members. For too long, they have risked personal bankruptcy if they or a loved one was struck down with an illness or injury that required expensive medical attention.

Close to 6 million Americans lost their insurance between 2000 and 2004. Even more staggering is the fact that, over a two year period, 82 million Americans will be uninsured for a significant period of time. For a country with some of the finest medical institutions in the world, 18,000 Americans still die prematurely each year because they lack health insurance. These figures are unconscionable, and tell a story of an American health care system in crisis.

We must do all we can either incrementally or systematically to bring our fellow Americans in from the cold and provide them the health security every American deserves. I have made several proposals that I will mention briefly. At the beginning of every Congress, I introduce H.R. 15, the National Health Insurance Act. It would provide insurance to all Americans not already in the Medicare system.

Another solution that I recently introduced is H.R. 4683, the Medicare for All Act. This bill would make health coverage available to every American by expanding the Medicare program to all Americans under the age of 65. It also promotes competition and choice by allowing enrollees the option of choosing any of the plans available to Federal employees.

It is estimated that this proposal will create $380 billion a year in savings. It is a new approach to an old problem, one that provides choice, competition, and savings.

I, along with several Democratic colleagues, have also introduced a number of legislative proposals to incrementally reduce the number of uninsured through the Small Business Health Insurance Promotion Act, the Medicare Early Access Act, and the FamilyCare Act. If we aren't able to tackle this problem comprehensively, we must look to incremental efforts.

These solutions harness the collective purchasing power of small businesses, early retirees, or families to make insurance more affordable and less administratively burdensome for employers without undermining protections for consumers.

The inability to provide health insurance to every single man, woman, and child in America was one of the largest policy failures of the 20th century. We must work together and build a consensus to ensure that we resolve this crisis in the 21st century. Nearly 46 million Americans depend on our action. We must not let another person perish prematurely because of our failure to ensure all Americans have health insurance. I look forward to working with anyone ready to seriously tackle this issue.

This is Congressman John D. Dingell thank you for listening.