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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The Medicare Rights Center (MRC) published | ||||||
3 | "Medicare: A National Treasure for Forty Years" (2005); the | ||||||
4 | Medicare program was created as part of the Social Security | ||||||
5 | Amendments of 1965, and the program will celebrate its 48th | ||||||
6 | anniversary on July 30, 2013; and
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7 | WHEREAS, The MRC's findings are still valid, to wit: the | ||||||
8 | Medicare program has become a national treasure, reflecting the | ||||||
9 | nation's commitment to the health and independence of older | ||||||
10 | Americans and Americans with disabilities by providing health | ||||||
11 | care coverage to 45 million people; and
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12 | WHEREAS, The original design of the Medicare program - its | ||||||
13 | universality, shared risk, simplicity, and dependability - | ||||||
14 | created the foundation for its 48 years of success; Medicare's | ||||||
15 | universal nature ensures that virtually all older Americans and | ||||||
16 | many people with disabilities receive the health care they | ||||||
17 | need, while Medicare pools risk in order to share the financial | ||||||
18 | burdens of illness across healthy and sick individuals and | ||||||
19 | affluent and low-income families; for 46 years, Medicare has | ||||||
20 | guaranteed coverage for a defined set of benefits at a uniform | ||||||
21 | and predictable cost to all seniors and to people with | ||||||
22 | disabilities regardless of their income, health status, or | ||||||
23 | where they live and has dramatically improved the quality of |
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1 | life for millions of individuals; and
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2 | WHEREAS, Among the most important reasons to celebrate the | ||||||
3 | past 48 years of Medicare are: (1) guaranteed access to care | ||||||
4 | for people with Medicare; (2) improved quality of life for | ||||||
5 | older Americans and people with disabilities; (3) | ||||||
6 | administrative efficiency and cost containment; (4) critical | ||||||
7 | support for America's healthcare system; and (5) guaranteed | ||||||
8 | benefits and choice of providers; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Prior to Medicare, only half of older adults had | ||||||
10 | health insurance; private insurers were unable or unwilling to | ||||||
11 | provide comprehensive, affordable health care coverage to the | ||||||
12 | growing aged population, who were either too old or too sick | ||||||
13 | and therefore too high an insurance risk; through the guarantee | ||||||
14 | of Medicare coverage, the federal government established | ||||||
15 | protections for all people with Medicare that ensure that | ||||||
16 | everyone - including those battling costly illnesses - have | ||||||
17 | access to covered services; and | ||||||
18 | WHEREAS, Medicare is the second largest source of federal | ||||||
19 | spending for HIV care and
treatment, and approximately one out | ||||||
20 | of every five HIV-positive Americans receiving
regular medical | ||||||
21 | care depends, at least in part, on the Medicare program; and
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22 | WHEREAS, Medicare has also improved access to care in other |
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1 | ways; for example,
Medicare was, and continues to be, | ||||||
2 | instrumental in reducing disparities in access and
coverage for | ||||||
3 | racial and ethnic minority groups; and | ||||||
4 | WHEREAS, A 2001 survey demonstrates that people with | ||||||
5 | Medicare are
generally more satisfied with their health care | ||||||
6 | than are persons under age 65 who are
covered by private | ||||||
7 | insurance; people with Medicare report fewer problems getting | ||||||
8 | access
to care, greater confidence about their access, and | ||||||
9 | fewer instances of financial hardship as
a result of medical | ||||||
10 | bills; Medicare creates access to health care across many | ||||||
11 | dimensions: access to physician services; access to necessary | ||||||
12 | care; and reduced financial barriers to care; older Americans | ||||||
13 | with Medicare experience comparatively fewer financial | ||||||
14 | barriers to care; and
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15 | WHEREAS, By the year 2030, 20% of the U.S. population - 77 | ||||||
16 | million people - will be eligible for Medicare, compared to the | ||||||
17 | 14% of Americans who are Medicare-eligible today; while | ||||||
18 | Medicare gives all Americans a sense of security knowing their | ||||||
19 | parents, grandparents, friends and neighbors can access the | ||||||
20 | health care they need, before long the next generation of | ||||||
21 | Americans will need to count on Medicare too; and
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22 | WHEREAS, Thanks to Medicare, millions of Americans are able | ||||||
23 | to afford life-saving care, but Medicare also improves the |
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1 | quality of life for older Americans in other ways; for example, | ||||||
2 | Medicare is also a social safety net that has lifted millions | ||||||
3 | of people out of
poverty; in fact, since Medicare was created | ||||||
4 | in 1965, poverty among the elderly has been
reduced by nearly | ||||||
5 | two-thirds; by financing health care services, Medicare | ||||||
6 | safeguards
beneficiaries and their families from the ruinous | ||||||
7 | costs of medical treatments and prevents
individuals from | ||||||
8 | spending unmanageable proportions of their incomes on medical | ||||||
9 | care or
being pushed into poverty by their medical bills; in | ||||||
10 | addition, life expectancy has increased by three years and more | ||||||
11 | people are living past the age of 85 than ever before,
while | ||||||
12 | disability rates among the elderly are decreasing; with | ||||||
13 | improvements in Medicare
coverage for preventive services, | ||||||
14 | such as breast and prostate cancer screening, and
advances in | ||||||
15 | care management for people with chronic conditions, further | ||||||
16 | reductions in
morbidity and disability can be expected; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Equally important in assessing Medicare's success | ||||||
18 | is
Medicare's cost-effectiveness; Medicare has consistently | ||||||
19 | contained health care costs better than private health plans; | ||||||
20 | analysis of cumulative spending over a 30-year period further | ||||||
21 | illustrates Medicare's ability to control costs over time; | ||||||
22 | Medicare has been able to accomplish this cost-containment | ||||||
23 | record, in part, by using its resources more efficiently, | ||||||
24 | assessing the clinical effectiveness of services when making | ||||||
25 | coverage decisions and when setting payment rates for certain |
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1 | services; and | ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, Medicare's payment structure supports the United | ||||||
3 | States' health system
infrastructure; for example, Medicare | ||||||
4 | supports the nation's teaching hospitals and
educational | ||||||
5 | opportunities for health care professionals, through enhanced | ||||||
6 | payments; by
supporting graduate education for physicians and | ||||||
7 | other providers, Medicare benefits all
Americans, whether or | ||||||
8 | not they are covered by Medicare; Medicare also provides extra
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9 | support to hospitals that serve a disproportionate number of | ||||||
10 | low-income patients and to
rural hospitals, which are often | ||||||
11 | more heavily dependent on Medicare reimbursement than
other | ||||||
12 | facilities; Medicare also provides enhanced payments to rural | ||||||
13 | health clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers in | ||||||
14 | medically underserved
areas to ensure that care is available | ||||||
15 | for vulnerable people; and
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16 | WHEREAS, Medicare is the largest single payer for services | ||||||
17 | provided by the 7,000
home health agencies nationwide; | ||||||
18 | moreover, Medicare is an essential part of the entire U.S. | ||||||
19 | economy as well as a pillar of the health system; and
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20 | WHEREAS, Medicare is simple, popular and reliable; seniors | ||||||
21 | are very satisfied with the Medicare program; Medicare's | ||||||
22 | success is related to the unparalleled choice and availability | ||||||
23 | of physicians and health care services that it offers people; |
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1 | and
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2 | WHEREAS, Medicare has served Americans well; it is equally | ||||||
3 | available to all seniors and to people with disabilities, | ||||||
4 | regardless of health or financial status, and realizes the | ||||||
5 | right to health care for many of America's most vulnerable | ||||||
6 | individuals; Medicare continues to symbolize a rational, just | ||||||
7 | and systematic approach to health care access for all | ||||||
8 | Americans; and
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9 | WHEREAS, The enactment of the Medicare Prescription Drug, | ||||||
10 | Improvement, and
Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) has prompted | ||||||
11 | significant changes to the Medicare
program; the MMA | ||||||
12 | established a new outpatient prescription drug benefit - | ||||||
13 | Medicare
Part D - for people with Medicare coverage, and | ||||||
14 | replaced Medicaid drug coverage
with the new Part D program for | ||||||
15 | people who receive health coverage from both Medicare
and | ||||||
16 | Medicaid; therefore, be it
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17 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
18 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
19 | we celebrate the past 48 years of Medicare and urge the United | ||||||
20 | States Congress to make sure that the millions of seniors and | ||||||
21 | Americans with disabilities who rely on it will be able to | ||||||
22 | enjoy its dependability and simplicity in the years to come; | ||||||
23 | Medicare's successes to date should guide future changes to the |
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1 | program, so that it can continue to ensure access to care, | ||||||
2 | improve quality of life, support the health care system, and | ||||||
3 | enjoy broad support among the people whom it helps every day; | ||||||
4 | and be it further
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5 | RESOLVED, That strengthening Medicare and improving the | ||||||
6 | Medicare Part D drug program should be a vital part of any | ||||||
7 | reform of the American health care system; and be it further | ||||||
8 | RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be | ||||||
9 | delivered to President Barack Obama and each member of the | ||||||
10 | Illinois Congressional delegation.
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