Dear Friend:

Nearly forty-five million Americans are uninsured.  Unless action is taken, that number is expected to rise to 56 million by 2013.  This is a national tragedy that demands a Congressional response.

The Commonwealth Fund, a nationally recognized foundation that provides independent health care research, recently analyzed each of the leading Congressional and Bush Administration reform proposals to expand health insurance coverage.

According to the study, the “AmeriCare Health Care Act” I introduced last month is the best way to ensure quality, affordable coverage for all Americans and reduce overall health care spending.  The Commonwealth Fund analysis found that by building on Medicare and the employer-based system, my proposal would

• provide for truly universal coverage, insuring all 47.8 million uninsured Americans;

• reduce health system spending by tens of billions of dollars by building on Medicare, a program significantly more efficient than private insurance; and

• decrease costs for households, employers, and state and local governments. 

The “AmeriCare Health Care Act” combines what works in Medicare with what works in employer-based coverage to produce a health care plan that works for all Americans. 

Under my legislation, people would continue to obtain health benefits through their employer or they would be covered under “AmeriCare,” a new health care program modeled on Medicare.

AmeriCare would provide comprehensive and affordable health care benefits. It would ensure that all Americans have access to the best that our health care system has to offer – medical innovation and the world’s most advanced providers and facilities – while addressing the shortcomings that exist today – high cost, complexity, and gaps in health insurance coverage.

For additional information on AmeriCare, please visit my website at http://www.house.gov/stark/news/legislation.htm.

You can also review the Commonwealth Fund report at http://www.cmwf.org/publications
/publications_show.htm?doc_id=469753.

As Chairman of a key health care subcommittee in Congress, I will work to enact the “AmeriCare Health Care Act” and provide health care to all.

Sincerely,

Pete