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HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, President Obama committed to working with
3 Congress to pass comprehensive health reform in order to
4 control rising health care costs, guarantee an individual his
5 or her choice of medical care provider, and assure
6 high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans; and
 
7     WHEREAS, Nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first
8 called for reform, the cost of health care in the United States
9 weighs down the economy; and
 
10     WHEREAS, Rapidly escalating health care costs are crushing
11 family, business, and government budgets as illustrated by the
12 fact that employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have
13 doubled in the last 9 years, a rate 3 times faster than
14 cumulative wage increases, and those health care costs are also
15 adversely affecting our economic competitiveness in the global
16 economy, as American companies compete against companies in
17 other countries that have dramatically lower health care costs;
18 and
 
19     WHEREAS, The United States spent approximately $2.2
20 trillion on health care in 2007, or $7,421 per person (nearly
21 twice the average of other developed nations); and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Americans spend more on health care than on
2 housing or food and, moreover, if rapid health cost growth
3 continues, by 2025 one out of every 4 dollars in our national
4 economy will be tied up in the health system; and
 
5     WHEREAS, In an effort to develop solutions to the health
6 care crisis, the present administration is working together
7 with members of Congress, doctors and hospitals, businesses and
8 unions, and other key health care system stakeholders, to enact
9 comprehensive health care reform; and
 
10     WHEREAS, The Obama administration's goals for health care
11 reform, on which there is a wide consensus, include: reduction
12 in the long-term growth of health care costs for businesses and
13 government; protection of families from bankruptcy or debt
14 because of health care costs; establishment of a system that
15 provides an individual with a guaranteed choice of doctors and
16 health plans; investment in prevention and wellness;
17 improvement in patient safety and quality of care; assurance of
18 affordable, quality health coverage for all Americans;
19 maintenance of health insurance coverage following a job change
20 or job loss; and the elimination of barriers to coverage for
21 people with pre-existing medical conditions; and
 
22     WHEREAS, The State of Illinois will benefit from
23 comprehensive health reform because it will have the beneficial

 

 

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1 effect of lowering State expenditures for healthcare in the
2 Medicaid program, the All Kids (healthcare program for every
3 uninsured child in Illinois), FamilyCare (healthcare coverage
4 to parents living with their children 18 years old or younger),
5 the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan (program for
6 all Illinois residents who are unable to obtain private health
7 insurance coverage), and health care insurance premiums for
8 State employees; and
 
9     WHEREAS, The citizens of Illinois will derive numerous
10 benefits from a health care system that provides quality health
11 care for all at a reasonable and predictable cost; therefore,
12 be it
 
13     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
14 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
15 urge President Obama and the United States Congress to take
16 immediate action to adopt meaningful heath care system reform
17 in keeping with the Obama administration's articulated goals;
18 and be it further
 
19     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
20 delivered to President Obama, the Majority Leader and Minority
21 Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority
22 Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and to
23 each member of the Illinois congressional delegation.