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- CONGRESS PASSES
IMPORTANT HEALTH CARE ACCESS BILL
BIG VICTORY FOR THE 44.3
MILLION UNINSURED
WASHINGTON, DC – Today,
the U.S. House of Representatives passed vital health care
legislation designed to offer the more than 44 million uninsured
Americans quality, affordable healthcare. The bill, H.R. 2990, the
"Quality Care for the Uninsured Act" was introduced by House Small
Business Committee Chairman Jim Talent (R-Mo.) passed the House
227-205 and will provide tax incentives and free market reforms to
offer millions of Americans the best patient protection of all –
health care coverage.
"No discussion of health care is
complete without talking about helping the millions of Americans who
are currently uninsured," said Chairman Talent. "The Quality Care
for the Uninsured Act finally ensures that the voice of the
uninsured is heard because patient protections mean nothing if you
have no health insurance. Today’s vote is a big victory for the
millions of Americans without health insurance. One in six people in
America – many of them are our friends and neighbors – live in fear
of getting sick because they have no health insurance. With the
success of the access bill, millions of uninsured Americans will
have access to quality, affordable health care," said
Talent.
More than 60% of the uninsured have one thing in
common - they are either self-employed, or their family is employed
by a small business that cannot afford to provide health benefits.
The Quality Care for the Uninsured Act will provide access to
affordable, quality, private sector healthcare for working families
through tax incentives and free market reforms, including
Association Health Plans (AHPs) Health Marts and Community Health
Care Centers.
"Small employers don’t have the same economies
of scale as big corporations," said Talent. "Because of this, small
employers often can’t afford to offer their employees quality health
care or any health care at all. The Quality Care for the Uninsured
Act ends the health care discrimination against small businesses. It
allows them to use free market reforms like Association Health
Plans, to finally be able to offer employees the same kinds of
health care options big corporations have offered for
years."
Those who opposed the access bill argued that the
Quality Care for the Uninsured Act was a poison pill and the cost of
the bill ($48 billion over 10 years) would dip into the Social
Security Trust. Talent argued, "They are wrong. Their bill does
nothing for the uninsured, and the cost of the access bill is a
fraction of the size of the President’s own spending initiatives.
The access bill is actually a spoonful of sugar to the millions of
Americans without health care. What point is health care reform, if
you can’t afford health insurance in the first place? Passing the
Quality Care for the Uninsured Act is a vital part of this health
care debate."
"It’s time we did something about the
uninsured," continued Talent. The Quality Care for the Uninsured act
provides greater choice and access to affordable, high quality,
private sector health insurance for millions of hard-working
families," said Talent. "The bi-partisan passage of this important
bill was the right thing to do."
An outline of the bill is
attached.
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Quality Care for the Uninsured
Act
CREATES NEW ACCESS OPTIONS
TO:
- LOWER COSTS
- IMPROVE QUALITY and
- INCREASE COVERAGE TO THE UNINSURED
MEDICAL SAVINGS
ACCOUNTS give individuals the
power and personal control to save for their own health care needs
through tax-free savings accounts solely to be used for health care
coverage.
TAX-DEDUCTIBLE PREMIUMS FOR SELF-EMPLOYED &
UNINSURED create new avenues to
health care coverage by allowing a 100% tax deduction on health care
insurance premiums.
TAX-DEDUCTIBLE PREMIUMS FOR LONG-TERM CARE allow the 7.3 million Americans now in need of
long-term care services, whether at home or in a nursing home
facility, a 100% tax deduction on their insurance premiums. 19
million Americans are expected to require long-term health care by
2050.
ASSOCIATION HEALTH PLANS give small businesses and the self-employed the freedom to
design more affordable benefit options and offer their workers
access to health care coverage. These new coverage options promote
greater competition, lower costs and new choices in health insurance
markets. By allowing individuals and small employers to join
together, AHPs promote the same economies of scale and purchasing
clout that workers in large companies currently
realize.
COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER NETWORKS allow community-based providers to form health
care networks in order to meet the unique needs of employers and
employees in medically underserved areas. CHOs ensure that these
coordinate care plans are operated by providers who understand the
unique health care needs of their medically underserved
communities.
HEALTHMARTS create new
purchasing cooperatives for firms, health plans and providers in a
local geographic area. Employers may purchase insurance through the
HealthMart, and individuals can join their own HealthMart as well.
HealthMarts must offer at least two coverage options to
employees.
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