|
WASHINGTON,
D.C. – In recognition of “Cover the Uninsured Week,” U.S. Representative
Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, inserted
the following statement into the Congressional Record:
Mr.
Speaker, I rise today to recognize May 10-16 as “Cover the Uninsured Week.”
This is an important opportunity to put the spotlight on those individuals
without access to coverage as well as those with inadequate coverage.
Over 44 million people – 15% of the U.S. population – lack health insurance
coverage of any kind over the entire year. It has been said many
times, but it must be said yet again – the United States is the only industrialized
nation which fails to provide universal health care to its people. I hope
the “Cover the Uninsured Week” will not just stimulate discussion, but
action, so that soon that statement will no longer be true.
Individuals
without health insurance are more likely than insured Americans to postpone
health care, not getting the care they need and not filling prescriptions.
Access to health insurance also has a major impact on the financial well-being
of families – over a third of the uninsured had a serious problem paying
medical bills in the past year and nearly a quarter was contacted by a
collection agency. The alarming fact is that this disturbing trend
is only worsening. Throughout most of the 1990s, the number of uninsured
has been steadily increasing by about 1 million people every year.
This problem persists despite the fact that a recent Kaiser Family Foundation
poll found that 78 percent of all Americans believe that the government
has a responsibility to expand health insurance coverage to more Americans.
This strong sense of national support for expanding health care to the
uninsured is a mandate to the government to act now on this urgent problem
that is profoundly affecting the ability of Americans to live healthy and
productive lives.
The
lack of affordable health care and the national epidemic of the uninsured
is not a problem with a single face. The uninsured are a diverse
group of people – they are young professionals, small business owners,
laborers and service employees. They are children, parents, and the
near elderly. Any working person in this country can end up being
uninsured at some point in their life. Today, I would like to look
beyond the numbers and present before you snapshots of two people from
my state of Illinois who are living without insurance.
Jocelyn
Graf of Oak Park, Illinois had to give up her health insurance when she
started her own small English language training business and discovered
that she could not afford the insurance plans available on the market.
Jocelyn has received discounted medical care with assistance from the Campaign
for Better Health Care. Jocelyn explained that she has been willing
to risk living without insurance because she is young and healthy, but
the lack of coverage would have been harder to deal with if she had ongoing
health needs or was injured.
Uyles
Singleton of Chicago, Illinois worked for an envelope manufacturing company
for 35 years. When the company went out of business last July, Uyles
had only one month’s notice before losing his employer coverage insurance,
which provided him and his wife access to medical care. Uyles quickly
discovered that he could not afford to pay the exorbitantly high private
insurance premiums and now has to pay for all of his medical and prescription
drug expenses out-of-pocket. Uyles pays $300 a month for his monthly medications
to treat a chronic condition and can no longer afford to visit his regular
primary care physician. In February, Uyles went to Cook County Hospital
after separating his shoulder where he was x-rayed, but was not treated
because he was unable to pay for the costs of care.
Unfortunately,
the problem runs much deeper than just the uninsured. Perhaps the
sleeping giant of our health care coverage crisis is the population of
Americans who are underinsured and lack access to urgent and necessary
care. If you have a chronic medical condition and your employer changes
health insurance providers or you change jobs and your new policy does
not cover a preexisting condition, then you or your family may experience
a serious gap in coverage. If you are in need of mental health coverage
that your insurance does not cover, you will be unable to access appropriate
care. And if you are self-employed or unemployed for even a small
stretch of time, you may find yourself priced out of the health insurance
market or paying high premiums for an insurance policy that may only cover
catastrophic costs. Even temporary gaps in coverage affect the health
and financial stability of the so-called “insured population.” A
2002 Kaiser Foundation study found that 38 percent of insured individuals
report that they or their families experienced at least one problem accessing
medical services in the past year, nearly one-fifth (18 percent) reported
that they postponed seeking medical care and 15 percent had a problem paying
medical bills.
These
numbers have real meaning to the people I represent. I have been
contacted by a constituent who, although being insured, suffers from breast
cancer, a condition not covered by her insurance provider. The very
expensive cost of fighting this disease falls squarely on her shoulders
with no help from her insurer. I am greatly troubled by the many
constituents that I have heard from who struggle to pay the high premiums
for their insurance, only to have to ration the medical care they need
for themselves and their children because of deductibles that reach $5,000.
Insurance available in today’s market is clearly not a full-proof guarantee
that people can access the care they need. Given the very thin line
distinguishing the underinsured from the uninsured, Congress needs to act
to guarantee comprehensive, quality care for both the uninsured and the
badly insured.
Any
of us could become uninsured and face similar problems in obtaining medical
care. Action on this critical issue is long since overdue.
I urge my colleagues in Congress to not delay. We must act to make
health care a right entitled to each and every single American. |
|