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HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Every person in Illinois and the United States
3 deserves equal access to affordable quality health care; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Americans have identified the lack of affordable,
5 guaranteed health care for every citizen as one of the most
6 critical domestic problems; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Illness and medical bills contribute to 50% of all
8 U.S. bankruptcies, affecting more than two million Americans
9 annually, especially those without health insurance or those
10 with inadequate health insurance coverage; and
 
11     WHEREAS, Americans already pay more per capita than any
12 other nation for health care, almost twice the amount of other
13 industrialized nations, yet according to the World Health
14 Organization, this nation ranks 37th in health system
15 performance; and
 
16     WHEREAS, The U.S. could save over $350 billion annually
17 with an efficient, single payer national health insurance
18 program by expanding the risk pool to the entire U.S.
19 population, negotiating prescription drug and medical supply
20 purchases, reducing administrative costs, and eliminating the
21 need for administration, marketing and profits associated with

 

 

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1 private insurance; and
 
2     WHEREAS, These savings would fully offset the costs of
3 insuring the 39 million Americans who are uninsured; and
 
4     WHEREAS, A national single payer plan restores control over
5 medical care to the patient and the patient's chosen medical
6 professionals; and
 
7     WHEREAS, There are an estimated 1.7 million Illinois
8 residents who do not have health insurance coverage, of which
9 over 279,568 are children; and
 
10     WHEREAS, The cost of providing health care to Illinois'
11 residents has become a burden to Illinois employers, as well as
12 Illinois municipalities and taxpayers; according to an updated
13 estimate of the Institute of Medicine, the uninsured in our
14 State cost our State at least $3.9 billion annually; this far
15 exceeds the cost to provide health insurance to these uninsured
16 Illinois residents, demonstrating the need to undertake a major
17 overhaul and reform of the health insurance system; and
 
18     WHEREAS, Illinois hospitals spent almost $1.3 billion to
19 provide charity care in FY 2007, and provided $383 million of
20 free or discounted care, expenses they would no longer incur
21 under a national health insurance program; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, The State of Illinois could save nearly $2 billion
2 per year in health benefits costs for current and retired State
3 employees under a national health insurance program proposed
4 under federal legislation embodied in H.R. 676, the "United
5 States National Health Insurance Act"; and
 
6     WHEREAS, A national health insurance program would free
7 Illinois doctors, hospitals and other medical care facilities
8 from the consistent burdens and expenses of paperwork created
9 by having to deal with multiple insurers with different rules;
10 and
 
11     WHEREAS, Given Illinois' current fiscal crisis, in order to
12 cover every Illinois resident with comprehensive health
13 insurance, the State would have to further cut aid to local
14 governments and other very critical State programs and
15 services; and
 
16     WHEREAS, H.R. 676, sponsored by Congressman John Conyers
17 and 93 co-sponsors, would assure comprehensive coverage to
18 include, but not be limited to, hospital, physician,
19 prescription drugs, vision, hearing, dental, chiropractic,
20 mental health, drug rehabilitation, and long term care services
21 for all Illinois and U.S. residents, would protect the
22 doctor-patient relationship, would assure patients a

 

 

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1 completely free choice of doctors, and would allow physicians a
2 free choice of practice settings; and
 
3     WHEREAS, H.R. 676 has the endorsement of 34 out of 50
4 statewide chapters of the AFL-CIO and 110 Central Labor
5 Councils nationwide; and
 
6     WHEREAS, This House believes that both controlling health
7 care costs and ensuring health care for all residents is of
8 vital importance; therefore, be it
 
9     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
10 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
11 respectfully urge the United States Congress and the President
12 of the United States to enact H.R. 676, pending in the 110th
13 Congress, which provides universal health insurance coverage
14 for all individuals residing in the United States and its
15 territories; and be it further
 
16     RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
17 transmitted to the President and Vice President of the United
18 States, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States
19 House of Representatives, the President and Minority Leader of
20 the United States Senate, and every member of the Illinois
21 Congressional delegation.