For Immediate Release

May 13, 2004

Washington, DC - Rep. Gene Green this week cosponsored three bills - the Small Business Health Insurance Promotion Act, the Medicare Early Access Act, and the Family Care Act - that would provide affordable health insurance to half of all uninsured Americans.  More than 5,556,000 people in Texas have no health insurance.  Nationwide, more than 43 million people are uninsured.

 

“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,” said Rep. Green.  “Unfortunately, health insurance premiums continue to rise and the number of uninsured continues to grow.  In fact, Texas ranks number one in uninsured adults and millions more struggle every day to pay their health insurance premiums.”

 

The proposals, introduced by House Democrats, will allow 3.5 million older Americans to buy into Medicare and 7.5 million parents to enroll in Medicaid or State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP).  They will also create a 50 percent tax credit to help small businesses with the costs of health coverage, making health insurance more affordable for their employees.

 

“Many small businesses are finding that they simply can’t afford to purchase health insurance for their employees. With a large number of small business in Texas, it is no surprise that our state also ranks number one in the percentage of uninsured working adults,” added Green.

 

“I am proud to cosponsor legislation to address the problem of the uninsured and extend coverage to approximately 22 million Americans,” concluded Green. “These common sense proposals will lower health care costs and provide affordable, quality and reliable healthcare coverage.”

 

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