IV

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. RES. 87

To express the sense of the House of Representatives that the Federal

investment in programs that provide health care services to uninsured

and low-income individuals in medically underserved areas be increased

in order to double access to care over the next 5 years.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 13, 2001

Mr. CAPUANO (for himself, Mr. BILIRAKIS, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. FATTAH, Mr.

SANDERS, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr.

NORWOOD, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. BALDACCI, Mr. HILLIARD, Mrs. MALONEY

of New York, Ms. BROWN of Florida, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. STRICKLAND,

Ms. LEE, Mr. SHIMKUS, Ms. RIVERS, Mrs. JONES of Ohio, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. SCOTT, Mr. DOOLEY of California, Mr. SESSIONS,

Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. LAHOOD, Mr. EHRLICH, Mr. DOYLE,

Mr. UPTON, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Mr. EVANS, Mr. WELLER,

Ms. SLAUGHTER, Mr. MEEHAN, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. FORD, Mr. BROWN

of Ohio, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. SMITH of New

Jersey, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. HAYWORTH, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. CLAY, Mr.

FRANK, Mr. DEAL of Georgia, Mr. OLVER, Mr. FILNER, Mr. BONIOR,

Mr. PAYNE, Ms. BALDWIN, Mrs. EMERSON, Mr. PHELPS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, and Ms. HOOLEY of

Oregon) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the

Committee on Energy and Commerce

RESOLUTION

To express the sense of the House of Representatives that

the Federal investment in programs that provide health

care services to uninsured and low-income individuals

in medically underserved areas be increased in order

to double access to care over the next 5 years.
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•HRES 87 IH

Whereas the uninsured population in the United States is approximately 43,000,000 and is estimated to reach over

53,000,000 people by 2007;

Whereas nearly 80 percent of the uninsured population are

members of working families who cannot afford health insurance or cannot access employer-provided health insurance plans;

Whereas minority populations, rural residents, and singleparent families represent a disproportionate number of

the uninsured population;

Whereas the problem of health care access for the uninsured

population is compounded in many urban and rural communities by a lack of providers who are available to serve

both insured and uninsured populations;

Whereas community, migrant, homeless, and public housing

health centers have proven uniquely qualified to address

the lack of adequate health care services for uninsured

populations, serving over 4,900,000 uninsured patients in

2000, including over 1,000,000 new uninsured patients

who have sought care from such centers in the last 3

years;

Whereas health centers care for about 12,000,000 patients,

including nearly 8,000,000 minorities, nearly 650,000

farmworkers, and almost 600,000 homeless individuals

each year;

Whereas health centers provide cost-effective comprehensive

primary and preventive care to uninsured individuals for

less than $1.00 per day, or $350 annually, and help to

reduce the inappropriate use of costly emergency rooms

and inpatient hospital care;
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•HRES 87 IH

Whereas current resources only allow health centers to serve

more than 10 percent of the Nation’s 43,000,000 uninsured individuals;

Whereas past investments to increase health center access

have resulted in better health, an improved quality of life

for all Americans, and a reduction in national health care

expenditures;

Whereas Congress can act now to increase access to health

care services for uninsured and low-income people together with or in advance of health care coverage proposals by expanding the availability of services at community, migrant, homeless, and public housing health centers; and

Whereas the President has proposed to double the number of

people served by health centers: Now, therefore, be it

1 Resolved,

2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

3 This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Resolution to

4 Expand Access to Community Health Centers (REACH)

5 Initiative’’.

6 SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

7 It is the sense of the House of Representatives that

8 appropriations for consolidated health centers under sec9 tion 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.

10 254b) should be increased by 100 percent over 5 fiscal

11 years, ending in 2006, in order to double the number of
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•HRES 87 IH

1 individuals who receive health care services at community,

2 migrant, homeless, and public housing health centers.

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