Full Text of HR0560 96th General Assembly
HR0560 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, In 2005, the Medicare Rights Center (MRC) | 3 |
| published "Medicare: A National Treasure for Forty Years"; the | 4 |
| Medicare program was created as part of the Social Security | 5 |
| Amendments of 1965, and the program will celebrate its 44th | 6 |
| anniversary on July 30, 2009; and
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| WHEREAS, The MRC's findings are still valid, to wit: the | 8 |
| Medicare program has become a national treasure, reflecting the | 9 |
| nation's commitment to the health and independence of older | 10 |
| Americans and Americans with disabilities by providing health | 11 |
| care coverage to 45 million people; and
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| WHEREAS, The original design of the Medicare program - its | 13 |
| universality, shared risk, simplicity and dependability - | 14 |
| created the foundation for its 44 years of success; Medicare's | 15 |
| universal nature ensures that virtually all older Americans and | 16 |
| many people with disabilities receive the health care they | 17 |
| need, while Medicare pools risk in order to share the financial | 18 |
| burdens of illness across healthy and sick individuals and | 19 |
| affluent and low-income families; for 44 years, Medicare has | 20 |
| guaranteed coverage for a defined set of benefits at a uniform | 21 |
| and predictable cost to all seniors and to people with | 22 |
| disabilities regardless of their income, health status, or | 23 |
| where they live and has dramatically improved the quality of |
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| life for millions of individuals; and
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| WHEREAS, Among the most important reasons to celebrate the | 3 |
| past 44 years of Medicare are: (1) guaranteed access to care | 4 |
| for people with Medicare; (2) improved quality of life for | 5 |
| older Americans and people with disabilities; (3) | 6 |
| administrative efficiency and cost containment; (4) critical | 7 |
| support for America's healthcare system; and (5) guaranteed | 8 |
| benefits and choice of providers; and
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| WHEREAS, Prior to Medicare, only half of older adults had | 10 |
| health insurance; private insurers were unable or unwilling to | 11 |
| provide comprehensive, affordable health care coverage to the | 12 |
| growing aged population, who were either too old or too sick | 13 |
| and therefore too high an insurance risk; through the guarantee | 14 |
| of Medicare coverage, the federal government established | 15 |
| protections for all people with Medicare that ensure that | 16 |
| everyone - including those battling costly illnesses - have | 17 |
| access to covered services; and | 18 |
| WHEREAS, Medicare is the second largest source of federal | 19 |
| spending for HIV care and
treatment, and approximately one out | 20 |
| of every five HIV-positive Americans receiving
regular medical | 21 |
| care depends, at least in part, on the Medicare program; and
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| WHEREAS, Medicare has also improved access to care in other |
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| ways; for example,
Medicare was, and continues to be, | 2 |
| instrumental in reducing disparities in access and
coverage for | 3 |
| racial and ethnic minority groups; and | 4 |
| WHEREAS, A 2001 survey demonstrates that people with | 5 |
| Medicare are
generally more satisfied with their health care | 6 |
| than are persons under age 65 who are
covered by private | 7 |
| insurance; people with Medicare report fewer problems getting | 8 |
| access
to care, greater confidence about their access, and | 9 |
| fewer instances of financial hardship as
a result of medical | 10 |
| bills; Medicare creates access to health care across many | 11 |
| dimensions: access to physician services; access to necessary | 12 |
| care; and reduced financial barriers to care; older Americans | 13 |
| with Medicare experience comparatively fewer financial | 14 |
| barriers to care; and
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| WHEREAS, By the year 2030, 20 percent of the U.S. | 16 |
| population - 77 million people - will be eligible for Medicare, | 17 |
| compared to the 14 percent of Americans who are | 18 |
| Medicare-eligible today; while Medicare gives all Americans a | 19 |
| sense of security knowing their parents, grandparents, friends | 20 |
| and neighbors can access the health care they need, before long | 21 |
| the next generation of Americans will need to count on Medicare | 22 |
| too; and
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| WHEREAS, Thanks to Medicare, millions of Americans are able |
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| to afford life-saving care, but Medicare also improves the | 2 |
| quality of life for older Americans in other ways; for example, | 3 |
| Medicare is also a social safety net that has lifted millions | 4 |
| of people out of
poverty; in fact, since Medicare was created | 5 |
| in 1965, poverty among the elderly has been
reduced by nearly | 6 |
| two-thirds; by financing health care services, Medicare | 7 |
| safeguards
beneficiaries and their families from the ruinous | 8 |
| costs of medical treatments and prevents
individuals from | 9 |
| spending unmanageable proportions of their incomes on medical | 10 |
| care or
being pushed into poverty by their medical bills; in | 11 |
| addition, life expectancy has increased by three years and more | 12 |
| people are living past the age of 85 than ever before,
while | 13 |
| disability rates among the elderly are decreasing; with | 14 |
| improvements in Medicare
coverage for preventive services, | 15 |
| such as breast and prostate cancer screening, and
advances in | 16 |
| care management for people with chronic conditions, further | 17 |
| reductions in
morbidity and disability can be expected; and
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| WHEREAS, Equally important in assessing Medicare's success | 19 |
| is
Medicare's cost-effectiveness; Medicare has consistently | 20 |
| contained health care costs better than private health plans; | 21 |
| analysis of cumulative spending over a 30-year period further | 22 |
| illustrates Medicare's ability to control costs over time; | 23 |
| Medicare has been able to accomplish this cost-containment | 24 |
| record, in part, by using its resources more efficiently, | 25 |
| assessing the clinical effectiveness of services when making |
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| coverage decisions and when setting payment rates for certain | 2 |
| services; and | 3 |
| WHEREAS, Medicare's payment structure supports the United | 4 |
| States' health system
infrastructure; for example, Medicare | 5 |
| supports the nation's teaching hospitals and
educational | 6 |
| opportunities for health care professionals, through enhanced | 7 |
| payments; by
supporting graduate education for physicians and | 8 |
| other providers, Medicare benefits all
Americans, whether or | 9 |
| not they are covered by Medicare; Medicare also provides extra
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| support to hospitals that serve a disproportionate number of | 11 |
| low-income patients and to
rural hospitals, which are often | 12 |
| more heavily dependent on Medicare reimbursement than
other | 13 |
| facilities; Medicare also provides enhanced payments to rural | 14 |
| health clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers in | 15 |
| medically underserved
areas to ensure that care is available | 16 |
| for vulnerable people; and
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| WHEREAS, Medicare is the largest single payer for services | 18 |
| provided by the 7,000
home health agencies nationwide; | 19 |
| moreover, Medicare is an essential part of the entire U.S. | 20 |
| economy as well as a pillar of the health system; and
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| WHEREAS, Medicare is simple, popular and reliable; seniors | 22 |
| are very satisfied with the Medicare program; Medicare's | 23 |
| success is related to the unparalleled choice and availability |
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| of physicians and health care services that it offers people; | 2 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, Medicare has served Americans well; it is equally | 4 |
| available to all seniors and to people with disabilities, | 5 |
| regardless of health or financial status, and realizes the | 6 |
| right to health care for many of America's most vulnerable | 7 |
| individuals; Medicare continues to symbolize a rational, just | 8 |
| and systematic approach to health care access for all | 9 |
| Americans; and
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| WHEREAS, The enactment of the Medicare Prescription Drug, | 11 |
| Improvement, and
Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) has prompted | 12 |
| significant changes to the Medicare
program; the MMA | 13 |
| establishes a new outpatient prescription drug benefit - | 14 |
| Medicare
Part D - for people with Medicare coverage, and | 15 |
| replaces Medicaid drug coverage
with the new Part D program for | 16 |
| people who receive health coverage from both Medicare
and | 17 |
| Medicaid; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 19 |
| NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 20 |
| celebrate the past 44 years of Medicare and urge the United | 21 |
| States Congress to make sure that the millions of seniors and | 22 |
| Americans with disabilities who rely on it will be able to | 23 |
| enjoy its dependability and simplicity in the years to come; |
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| Medicare's successes to date should guide future changes to the | 2 |
| program, so that it can continue to ensure access to care, | 3 |
| improve quality of life, support the health care system, and | 4 |
| enjoy broad support among the people whom it helps every day; | 5 |
| and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That strengthening Medicare and improving the | 7 |
| Medicare Part D drug program should be a vital part of any | 8 |
| reform of the American health care system; and be it further | 9 |
| RESOLVED, That, given the history and successes of the | 10 |
| Medicare program, the United States Congress and the President | 11 |
| of the United States should immediately reconsider the "Single | 12 |
| Payer" option based on the Medicare model for adoption as the | 13 |
| primary component of a national health reform plan, so that all | 14 |
| of the people in America can have full access to comprehensive, | 15 |
| quality health care in the most cost-effective and efficient | 16 |
| manner possible; and be it further | 17 |
| RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | 18 |
| delivered to President Barack Obama and each member of the | 19 |
| Illinois Congressional delegation.
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