Full Text of HR0233 96th General Assembly
HR0233 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, Every person in Illinois and the United States | 3 |
| deserves
equal access to affordable quality health care; and
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| WHEREAS, Americans have identified the lack of affordable,
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| guaranteed health care for every citizen as one of the most | 6 |
| critical
domestic problems; and
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| 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
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| WHEREAS, Americans already pay more per capita than any | 12 |
| other
nation for health care, almost twice the amount of other
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| industrialized nations, yet according to the World Health
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| Organization, this nation ranks 37th in health system | 15 |
| performance; and
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| 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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| private insurance; and
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| WHEREAS, These savings would fully offset the costs of | 3 |
| insuring the
39 million Americans who are uninsured; and
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| 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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| 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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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| House of Representatives, the President and Minority Leader of | 20 |
| the United States Senate, and every member of the Illinois | 21 |
| Congressional delegation.
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