RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE US NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE ACT
(HR 676)
WHEREAS everyone deserves access to affordable quality health care; and
WHEREAS the number of Americans without health insurance now exceeds 47 million; and
WHEREAS millions with insurance have coverage so skimpy that a major illness would lead to financial ruin, and medical illness and bills contribute to one-half of all bankruptcies; and
WHEREAS proposals for “consumer directed health care” would worsen this situation by penalizing the sick, discouraging prevention and saddling many working families with huge medical bills; and
WHEREAS managed care and other market-based reforms have failed to contain health care costs, which now threaten the international competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers; and
WHEREAS administrative waste stemming from our reliance on private insurers consumes one-third of health spending; and
WHEREAS U.S. hospitals spend 24.3% of their budgets on billing and administration while hospitals under Canada’s single payer system spend only 12.9%; and
WHEREAS American physicians are inundated with bureaucratic tasks and costs that Canadian physicians avoid; and
WHEREAS Harvard researchers estimated that more than $300 billion could be recovered by replacing private insurance companies with a single public payer, enough to cover the uninsured and to improve coverage for all those who now have only partial coverage; and
WHEREAS “consumer directed health care” adds yet another expensive layer of bureaucrats — the financial firms that manage health savings accounts; and
WHEREAS entrusting care to profit-oriented firms diverts billions of dollars to outrageous incomes for CEOs and threatens the quality of care; and
WHEREAS The US National Health Insurance Act which would assure universal coverage of all medically necessary services, contain costs by slashing bureaucracy, protect the doctor patient relationship, assure patients a completely free choice of doctors, and allow physicians a free choice of practice settings; NOW THEREFORE
BE IT RESOLVED that____________________________________ expresses its support for The US National Health Insurance Act (HR 676), and calls upon federal legislators to work towards its enactment within the current Congress.