Date: September 30, 2002
For
Release: Immediately
Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343
Headline: SECRETARY THOMPSON URGES CONGRESS
TO PASS
PRESIDENT'S PLAN TO ASSIST UNINSURED
Citing a new
report showing the number of uninsured Americans increased in
2001, Secretary
Tommy G.
Thompson today called on Congress to approve President Bush's plan
to provide
access to quality health care to those families who need it most.
President Bush
has offered a comprehensive approach to providing health care
for all
Americans in his fiscal year 2003 budget request for the Department
of Health and
Human Services. In his budget request, the President
aggressively
seeks to increase access to health insurance through health
credits and
expanded eligibility under the State Children's Health Insurance
Program (SCHIP)
and Medicaid programs, in addition to his long-term goal of
doubling the
number of community health centers nationwide.
"The
President has introduced a visionary, multi-layered proposal to
increase access
to quality health care for all Americans," Secretary
Thompson said.
"He is proposing more community health clinics, health
credits and
more freedom for states to extend insurance to those who need
it. As this new
report shows, we simply cannot afford to wait any longer.
Congress must
act quickly to approve the President's plan to assist American
families who
lack access to health care."
Health Credits
The President
has proposed a series of health credits that will help
families who
don't have other insurance to secure the health care that they
need. Under the President's plan, families with
two or more children and
incomes under
$25,000 could receive up to $3,000 in credits to cover the
cost of buying
health insurance. Individuals earning up to $15,000 a year
could receive a
$1,000 credit.
This health credit also could be
used to purchase private
insurance
through purchasing groups and state-sponsored insurance pools --
such as SCHIP
or state employee pools. The health credit plan alone would
help an
estimated 6 million previously uninsured Americans get health
insurance.
Increased
Flexibility
Additionally,
as former governors, President Bush and Secretary Thompson
have made it a
priority to make it simpler and easier for governors to
submit Medicaid
and SCHIP waiver requests and to have those requests
considered
promptly -- especially to help children.
Since January 2001, HHS
has approved
waivers and plan amendments that have expanded eligibility to
more than 2
million people and enhanced benefits for more than 6 million
people.
In addition,
HHS' budget proposal also would strengthen the SCHIP program by
allowing states
to use an estimated $3.2 billion in unused funds that
otherwise would
return to the federal treasury. These
additional matching
funds will
enable all states to expand coverage to the uninsured - in
addition to the
more than 4 million children covered under SCHIP today.
Additionally,
HHS has developed the Health Insurance Flexibility and
Accountability
(HIFA) Initiative, a Medicaid and SCHIP waiver approach that
gives states
greater ability to design health insurance programs to meet the
health
insurance needs of their low-income populations.
Secretary
Thompson launched the HIFA initiative last year to encourage
states to expand
access to health care coverage for low-income individuals
through
Medicaid and SCHIP demonstrations. The initiative gives states more
flexibility to
coordinate these companion programs and offers a simpler
application for
states that commit to reducing the number of people without
health
insurance. HIFA also encourages coordination between public and
private
coverage options for the uninsured.
Community
Health Centers
The 2003 budget
requests $1.5 billion -- a $114 million increase -- to
support the President's
strategy to create 1,200 new community health
centers by
2006. The increase would support 170
new and expanded health
centers and
provide services to a million additional patients. The
President's
long-term plan is to double the capacity of our community health
center system
to expand access to care for millions of Americans.
To ensure that
the community health centers have enough health care workers,
the budget also
increases funding for the National Health Service Corps by
$44
million. Many of the professionals
recruited into the service corps
work in
community health centers and other underserved areas.