FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 24, 2000

PRESS CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT--HEALTH INSURANCE TAX CREDIT LEGISLATION Senator Jim Jeffords (R-VT), House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX), Senator John Breaux (D-LA), and Senator Bill Frist (R-TN) will hold a press conference to unveil legislation to provide health insurance tax credits for the uninsured. The press conference will be at 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 25, 2000, in the Senate Radio and TV Gallery (S-325 Capitol Building). This effort marks the first major bipartisan, bicameral initiative on the uninsured since 1994. The bipartisan group has been working together since August to develop this proposal, consulting with policy and tax experts from health policy and tax think tanks, as well as consumer, employer, benefits provider and insurance organizations. Senators Jeffords and Breaux put forth tax credit proposals as part of various tax reform packages last year; and also last year, House Majority Leader Armey introduced a freestanding tax credit bill (H.R. 2362) called the Fair Care for the Uninsured Act of 1999. The bipartisan proposal draws from each of these proposals and represents a unified approach by key leaders across both houses and parties. /td>