![[News from Congressman Dave Obey]](H_Obey_092100_files/press_head.gif) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
TO COVER WISCONSIN'S UNINSURED |
| Washington, D.C. -- Wisconsin Representatives Dave Obey (D-7)
and Tammy Baldwin (D-2) announced today that Wisconsin will get a $1.3
million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to
identify its uninsured population and develop strategies for closing the
uninsured gap. "Finding a way to insure the 45 million people in this country who have no health care is going to take innovative ideas," said Obey. "These planning grants will help energize states to take another hard look at how to break down the barriers that lead to people being uninsured. Wisconsin has one of the lowest rates of uninsured people in the country and I commend the state for doing such a good job. With this planning grant, Wisconsin has the opportunity to become a state that others can look to for a model of how to close the remaining gap. By enabling states to try new approaches to health care, our hope is that we can get some new ideas that will help us meet the health care needs of those in the nation who have no coverage at all." As the lead Democratic House negotiator on the budget, Obey won a $15 million appropriation in last year's budget to provide planning grants to eleven states who are willing to take the lead and explore ways to make sure health insurance is there for everyone. Obey developed the approach after discussions with Baldwin and several other key legislators and after conversations with Governor Thompson over the past year about the possibility of Wisconsin being the first state in the country to try to establish a federal-state partnership to provide access to health care for every state resident. "This grant presents Wisconsin with a terrific opportunity to continue its tradition as an innovator," said Baldwin. "It could lay the groundwork for us to become the first state in the Union to assure that every citizen has health care coverage." "These grants will help Wisconsin and a handful of other states analyze who is uninsured, why they are uninsured, and to help states decide what approaches they would be willing to follow in partnership with the federal government in order to accomplish that goal," Obey said. Obey said that states will have the flexibility to develop approaches from the ground up. He said that he did not care which approaches the states took so long as in the end, we end the moral blight of having almost 1/5 of our population without health insurance. "If we cannot figure out how to do this now when we are experiencing the greatest prosperity our country has ever seen, then when can we," Obey asked. |
