HR0569 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0569 LRB096 13576 AJO 28336 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, President Obama committed to working with Congress to pass comprehensive health reform in order to control rising health care costs, guarantee an individual his or her choice of medical care provider, and assure high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans; and

WHEREAS, Nearly a century after Teddy Roosevelt first called for reform, the cost of health care in the United States weighs down the economy; and

WHEREAS, Rapidly escalating health care costs are crushing family, business, and government budgets as illustrated by the fact that employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have doubled in the last 9 years, a rate 3 times faster than cumulative wage increases, and those health care costs are also adversely affecting our economic competitiveness in the global economy, as American companies compete against companies in other countries that have dramatically lower health care costs; and

WHEREAS, The United States spent approximately $2.2 trillion on health care in 2007, or $7,421 per person (nearly twice the average of other developed nations); and

WHEREAS, Americans spend more on health care than on housing or food and, moreover, if rapid health cost growth continues, by 2025 one out of every 4 dollars in our national economy will be tied up in the health system; and

WHEREAS, In an effort to develop solutions to the health care crisis, the present administration is working together with members of Congress, doctors and hospitals, businesses and unions, and other key health care system stakeholders, to enact comprehensive health care reform; and

WHEREAS, The Obama administration's goals for health care reform, on which there is a wide consensus, include: reduction in the long-term growth of health care costs for businesses and government; protection of families from bankruptcy or debt because of health care costs; establishment of a system that provides an individual with a guaranteed choice of doctors and health plans; investment in prevention and wellness; improvement in patient safety and quality of care; assurance of affordable, quality health coverage for all Americans; maintenance of health insurance coverage following a job change or job loss; and the elimination of barriers to coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions; and

WHEREAS, The State of Illinois will benefit from comprehensive health reform because it will have the beneficial effect of lowering State expenditures for healthcare in the Medicaid program, the All Kids (healthcare program for every uninsured child in Illinois), FamilyCare (healthcare coverage to parents living with their children 18 years old or younger), the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan (program for all Illinois residents who are unable to obtain private health insurance coverage), and health care insurance premiums for State employees; and

WHEREAS, The citizens of Illinois will derive numerous benefits from a health care system that provides quality health care for all at a reasonable and predictable cost; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge President Obama and the United States Congress to take immediate action to adopt meaningful heath care system reform in keeping with the Obama administration's articulated goals; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be delivered to President Obama, the Majority Leader and Minority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and to each member of the Illinois congressional delegation.