Proposing a strategy to make Medicare available to all Americans.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 532 Proposing a strategy to make Medicare available to all Americans. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 30, 2019 Ms. LOFGREN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Natural Resources, and Veterans’ Affairs, for a pe- riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con- sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned RESOLUTION Proposing a strategy to make Medicare available to all Americans. Whereas the United States spends more money per capita on health care than any other industrialized nation; Whereas 80 percent of adults are dissatisfied with the total cost of health care in the country; Whereas 77 percent of Americans are concerned that rising health care costs will damage the American economy; Whereas 68 percent of Americans support a national health care plan; Whereas the rate of uninsured individuals is at a 4-year high of 13.7 percent; VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Jul 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR532.IH HR532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HRES 532 IH Whereas Medicare is consistently rated the most popular and efficient health insurance system in the country; Whereas 90 percent of adults aged 65 and older, with most adults in this group qualifying for Medicare, rate both their care and coverage positively; Whereas private health insurance coverage continues to be more prevalent than government coverage, at 67.2 per- cent and 37.7 percent, respectively; Whereas employer-based insurance was the most common subtype of private health insurance coverage, at 56 per- cent; Whereas 80 percent of adults rate the quality of health care received as excellent or good; Whereas 69 percent of adults rate their health care coverage as excellent or good; and Whereas 60 percent of Americans believe it is the Federal Government’s responsibility to ensure health care cov- erage: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep- 1 resentatives that— 2 (1) making Medicare an available insurance 3 plan for all Americans should be a unified goal de- 4 spite differences in proposed strategies to achieve it; 5 (2) the complexity of the existing health care 6 system in the United States should be considered; 7 (3) the desire of individuals to retain the ability 8 to choose their health care should be considered; 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Jul 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR532.IH HR532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HRES 532 IH (4) a serious effort to change the health care 1 system will require years of work; 2 (5) a transition plan to reach this goal promptly 3 could, as initial steps— 4 (A) expand Medicare eligibility to allow 5 every individual who is aged 40 to 64 and not 6 a full-benefit Medicaid enrollee to buy into 7 Medicare; 8 (B) offer Medicare on the individual mar- 9 ket to all age groups; 10 (C) allow employers to contribute money to 11 the Medicare program and offer it as a health 12 care benefit to their employees; and 13 (D) offer Medicare on the Exchanges es- 14 tablished by the Patient Protection and Afford- 15 able Care Act; 16 (6) after these initial steps, the Secretary of the 17 Department of Health and Human Services should 18 conduct an assessment to evaluate how many indi- 19 viduals remain outside of the Medicare system and 20 their reasons for declining enrollment; 21 (7) the Secretary should use the findings of the 22 assessment to determine how the Medicare program 23 can be extended to the remaining individuals to en- 24 roll; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Jul 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR532.IH HR532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HRES 532 IH (8) Medicare coverage should be expanded to 1 include all essential health benefits as outlined in the 2 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; 3 (9) the Department of Veterans Affairs will 4 continue to have a role to play in providing quality 5 health care and expertise to the Nation’s veterans; 6 and 7 (10) the Indian Health Service will continue to 8 have a role to play in providing quality health care 9 and expertise to Native Americans. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:47 Jul 30, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR532.IH HR532 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS