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Washington, D.C. --- U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health, gave the following statement at a press conference at the National Press Club unveiling a new report from FamiliesUSA on the number of uninsured Americans.
"I want to thank FamiliesUSA and Ron Pollack for inviting me to join them here today for the release of this very important report. This is a report that will help frame the issue of health care both here in Washington and around the nation over the next year.
"As the FamiliesUSA report shows, the number of uninsured people in our nation has reached an absolutely unacceptable level, with more than one out of every three Americans under 65 going without insurance coverage for all or part of 2006 and 2007. That's nearly 90 million people who were uninsured---25 million of which are children under the age of 18. Of those between the age of 18 and 64, 70 percent are employed full-time.
"These are people like you and me--people who work hard, pay their taxes, and play by the rules, but who simply cannot afford insurance because of the rising cost of health care. These increasing health care costs have forced employers, who have traditionally been a reliable source of health coverage for a majority of Americans, to shift costs to their workers, who are in no better position to bear this great financial burden. And at times, the high cost of health care has caused employers to offer policies with less adequate coverage, or to stop offering health insurance benefits altogether.
"Especially concerning is the report's finding that over the past two years 25 million of our nation's children went without health coverage for either the two entire years or for part of the time. This is simply unconscionable in a nation as prosperous as ours. We must make every effort to strengthen our public programs that provide health coverage to those who would otherwise be unable to access care.
"Both the House and the Senate have passed bills that would reauthorize the Children's Health Insurance Program for the next five years. I was one of the authors of the CHAMP Act in the House. At a time when the number of uninsured children has risen for two straight years, we believed that CHIP needed to be strengthened.
"As we continue to work to reconcile these two bills, President Bush has repeatedly threatened a veto. He has also announced new rules that would make it more difficult for states to reach out to the millions of children who are eligible for CHIP, but not yet signed up. The FamiliesUSA report should serve as another wake-up call to President Bush that CHIP needs to be strengthened in order to reach the growing number of uninsured children.
"Strengthening our public programs is only part of the solution. We must also look at private insurance markets and how to increase access, adequacy, and affordability. Unfortunately, over the last six years, leadership from the White House has been seriously lacking in exploring creative ways to ensure that more Americans have access to adequate and affordable health insurance.
"Given what we know about the growing number of uninsured Americans, and the findings from the new FamiliesUSA report, we have a historic opportunity to address the health care concerns of our nation's children by passing a final CHIP reauthorization bill before the end of the month. I am confident Congress will do that, and am hopeful that President Bush will reconsider his veto threat so that we can help millions of additional children. This is how we begin to address the issue of the uninsured here in America."
"As we move forward to 2008, it is important that we pick a President who understands the issues and who is interested in making improvements in our nation's health care system. This report shows that a national debate is indeed needed on the issue of our nation's health care system. I look forward to that debate."
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