HIAA Urges President Clinton To Support Bill That Would Help Millions Fulfill Their Health Care Needs

Oct 27, 2000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Joe Luchok

October 26, 2000

(202) 824-1786

e-mail: jluchok@hiaa.org

The following statement was released today by Chip Kahn, President of the Health Insurance Association of America (HIAA):

We urge President Clinton to support the Tax-Payer Relief Act of 2000 (H.R. 2614), a bill that would make health and long-term care insurance more affordable for millions of Americans and could provide seniors more choice in selecting health plans through the Medicare+Choice program.

H.R. 2614 would help protect families against the high costs of long-term care and ease the financial, physical, and emotional burdens on families providing LTC. The provisions of this bill would benefit all Americans, from seniors who currently need long-term care to baby boomers who will need such care in the future to women, who are often the primary care givers for people needing long-term care.

Health care tax provisions in the bill would allow the self-employed an above-the-line deduction for individually purchased health insurance and extend the trial period for Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs). These two provisions would help reduce the number of uninsured Americans by making health insurance more affordable to millions of Americans.

By providing fairer payments and easing the regulatory burden on Medicare HMOs, the bill also would provide a critical first step toward moving the Medicare+Choice program from its current "code blue" status to a more vibrant program that offers seniors even more high quality health plan options. As this is one area where seniors can obtain prescription drug coverage, it would be irresponsible not to stabilize this important option for America’s seniors.

We applaud the House and Senate leaders for moving this needed legislation. We urge President Clinton to do the right thing for Americans by signing this legislation into law.

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