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 period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 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; 


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•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 percent and 37.7 percent, respectively; 

Whereas employer-based insurance was the most common 

subtype of private health insurance coverage, at 56 percent; 

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 coverage: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) making Medicare an available insurance 

4 plan for all Americans should be a unified goal de5 spite differences in proposed strategies to achieve it; 

6 (2) the complexity of the existing health care 

7 system in the United States should be considered; 

8 (3) the desire of individuals to retain the ability 

9 to choose their health care should be considered; 


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1 (4) a serious effort to change the health care 

2 system will require years of work; 

3 (5) a transition plan to reach this goal promptly 

4 could, as initial steps— 

5 (A) expand Medicare eligibility to allow 

6 every individual who is aged 40 to 64 and not 

7 a full-benefit Medicaid enrollee to buy into 

8 Medicare; 

9 (B) offer Medicare on the individual mar10 ket to all age groups; 

11 (C) allow employers to contribute money to 

12 the Medicare program and offer it as a health 

13 care benefit to their employees; and 

14 (D) offer Medicare on the Exchanges es15 tablished by the Patient Protection and Afford16 able Care Act; 

17 (6) after these initial steps, the Secretary of the 

18 Department of Health and Human Services should 

19 conduct an assessment to evaluate how many indi20 viduals remain outside of the Medicare system and 

21 their reasons for declining enrollment; 

22 (7) the Secretary should use the findings of the 

23 assessment to determine how the Medicare program 

24 can be extended to the remaining individuals to en25 roll; 


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1 (8) Medicare coverage should be expanded to 

2 include all essential health benefits as outlined in the 

3 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; 

4 (9) the Department of Veterans Affairs will 

5 continue to have a role to play in providing quality 

6 health care and expertise to the Nation’s veterans; 

7 and 

8 (10) the Indian Health Service will continue to 

9 have a role to play in providing quality health care 

10 and expertise to Native Americans. 

Æ 


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