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"As someone who is legally required to balance a budget every year,
I understand that any budget calls for difficult decisions. The
hallmark of a good budget is making sure spending matches revenues
and still finding a way to help people -- and not hurt them.
Unfortunately, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, passed this week
by Congress, would result in working people losing their health
insurance," the governor wrote in a letter he sent Friday to
President Bush. "During your State of the Union address, you said
that our government 'has a responsibility to provide health care for
the poor and the elderly.' Signing legislation that raises the cost
of health care for working families by permitting states to impose
new or higher premiums and medical fees would contradict the beliefs
you expressed to the entire nation just a few days ago."
Recent estimates from the Congressional Budget Office found that
the legislation would result in higher medical fees for 13 million
people, including 4.5 million children, effectively denying health
care to people who need it. As more people lose access to medical
care, the cost of covering the uninsured will increase for taxpayers
and private insurance premium payers.
"The bill heading to your desk is penny-wise and
pound foolish. Denying people access to health care doesn't make the
problem go away. It only makes it worse," the governor wrote.
Over the past three years, the Blagojevich administration has
worked to expand health care coverage for low-income, working
parents and their children. As a result of the governor's expansions
of the state's health care programs, 400,000
more children and parents in Illinois have received coverage,
and Illinois is now ranked as the second-best state in the nation by
the Kaiser Family Foundation for providing health care to children
who need it and first in the nation for providing health care to
adults who need it.
Despite these gains, approximately 250,000 children in Illinois
are still without health insurance. That's why Blagojevich
introduced his landmark All Kids program, which makes comprehensive
health care coverage available to children, including doctors'
visits, hospital stays, prescription drugs, vision care, dental care
and medical devices like eyeglasses and asthma inhalers.
"Rather than cutting health care for working families, children
and the elderly, I urge you to look towards the examples of states
across the nation who are launching new programs that help people
get the health care they need," the governor wrote. "Here in
Illinois, we recently passed legislation guaranteeing every child
access to affordable, comprehensive health care."
The text of the letter is below:
Dear President
Bush:
As someone who is
legally required to balance a budget every year, I understand that
any budget calls for difficult decisions. The hallmark of a good
budget is making sure spending matches revenues, and still finding a
way to help people -- and not hurt them. Unfortunately, the Deficit
Reduction Act of 2005 passed this week by Congress, would result in
working people losing their health insurance. And that is why I am
asking you to reconsider your position, veto this bill and work with
Congress to find a better approach.
During your State
of the Union Address, you said that "our government has a
responsibility to provide health care for the poor and the elderly."
Signing legislation that raises the cost of health care for working
families by permitting states to impose new or higher premiums and
medical fees would contradict the beliefs you expressed to the
entire nation just a few days ago.
[to top of second column] |
 Recent estimates
from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) found that the
legislation on its way to your desk would mean new or higher medical
fees for 13 million people, including 4.5 million children. The end
result of these fees effectively means denying health care to people
who need it. When that happens, it doesn't just cause problems for
the families who no longer have health care. Those families still
get sick. They still need medical care. Only now, they don't get the
health care they need until a small problem has turned into a
complex expensive problem that lands them in the hospital. Once they
cannot pay the hospital bill (and, as you know, unpaid medical bills
are already the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the United
States), the costs are borne by everyone with health insurance,
which is a major reason why premiums are so high.
Children without
medical care still go to school, only now, they're more likely to
get other children sick, they have a harder time keeping up, they
require more of the teacher's attention, and that all costs us money
in the long run. In addition, more sick children mean more days
parents have to take off from work, which harms employee
productivity, one of factors your administration has identified as
the key to a good economy. The bill heading to your desk is penny
wise and pound foolish. Denying people access to health care doesn't
make the problem go away. It only makes it worse.
Rather than cutting
health care for working families, children and the elderly, I urge
you to look towards the examples of states across the nation who are
launching new programs that help people get the health care they
need. Here in Illinois, we recently passed legislation guaranteeing
every child access to affordable, comprehensive health care. Our All
Kids program means that 250,000 children will be able go to the
doctor when they need to. It means they'll have access to dentists,
eyeglasses, asthma inhalers, prescription drugs and everything else
so many of us take for granted. All Kids isn't a major strain on our
budget. Seventy-five percent of the costs are paid for by the
parents through affordable premiums -- lower than what they would
pay on the private market, but high enough to make the program
affordable for the state. The remaining 25% comes [from] savings
generated by changes to our Medicaid program that make it more
efficient and cost effective. That means we can guarantee access to
health care for every child without increasing overall spending and
without raising taxes or fees of any kind. If we can do it, you can
too.
In fact, there's a
bill currently pending in Congress that would create a federal
version of All Kids. Sponsored by Senator Dick Durbin and
Congressman Rahm Emanuel, the bill would expand the State Child
Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) so that states can offer access to
low-cost insurance not only to low income families, but to the
millions of working and middle class families whose children need
health insurance too.
In addition, we
have launched programs in Illinois that help senior citizens get
access to lower cost prescription drugs from Europe and Canada, help
small businesses pool their resources and save money on the cost of
health insurance, help uninsured veterans obtain access to health
insurance, help senior citizens fill in the gaps in coverage in the
federal Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, and help working
adults obtain access to affordable health insurance. Illinois is one
of many states that have taken new and innovative approaches to
solving the health care crisis. And while the federal government
shifts more and more of the burden for providing critical human
services to states, we have balanced our budget every year while
implementing these health care expansions.
The health care
crisis facing our nation can only be solved by tackling it head on.
The bill heading to your desk does anything but that. I urge you to
reconsider your position on the legislation and develop a better
way. If there is anything we can do to help the federal government
achieve that goal, please let us know. Thank you for your time and
consideration.
Sincerely,
Rod
R. Blagojevich
Governor
[News release from the governor's
office] |
