FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 23, 2009
Contact: Katie Laning Niebaum, Leah Vest
(202) 224-4843

Lincoln: Senate Finance Committee at Work to Pay for Health Care Reform

Washington – Following President Obama’s remarks earlier today that health care reform should not add to our deficits over the next decade, U.S. Senator Blanche Lincoln said the Senate Finance Committee is currently examining ways to achieve new savings in our health care system that will allow 46 million Americans to gain access to quality, affordable health care without placing at risk the health insurance that others currently enjoy. 

“The President is absolutely right that health care reform must be fully paid for,” Lincoln said.  “The Senate Finance Committee is evaluating various proposals to pay for reforms that will allow the 46 million uninsured Americans, including half a million Arkansans, to have access to quality, affordable, sustainable, and meaningful coverage. 

“Our current path is unsustainable.  Those fortunate enough to have health care pay a ‘hidden health tax’ just to cover those who don’t.  The ‘cost shift’ due to our broken system adds about $1,500 to the average family premium and $520 to the average individual premium for Arkansans. Half of all Americans who file for foreclosure do so because they can’t afford both their house and their health care.  More than half of all Americans who file for bankruptcy do so because health care is too expensive. For Arkansas families, health insurance premiums have skyrocketed, but the same cannot be said for their paychecks.  According to the non-partisan organization Families USA, annual premiums for family health coverage provided through work rose from $6,355 to $10,534—an increase of $4,179, or 65.8 percent, from 2000-2007. Arkansas workers’ median earnings increased from $20,328 to $22,692—an increase of $2,364, or 11.6 percent, over the same period.” 

In a meeting with White House “health czar” Nancy-Ann DeParle today, Lincoln said she agreed with the President that reform is not a luxury, but a necessity. 

“I remain committed to finding a solution that will offer all Americans stability and access to quality, affordable coverage,” Lincoln said.  “Health reform will offer all Americans—the insured, the uninsured, and the under-insured—the stable coverage, stable costs, and stable quality of care they need and deserve.”

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