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. THOMP-
SON 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. MCGOV-
ERN, 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.
•HRES 87 IH
Whereas the uninsured population in the United States is ap-
proximately 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 in-
surance or cannot access employer-provided health insur-
ance plans;
Whereas minority populations, rural residents, and single-
parent 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 com-
munities 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;
•HRES 87 IH
Whereas current resources only allow health centers to serve
more than 10 percent of the Nation’s 43,000,000 unin-
sured 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 to-
gether with or in advance of health care coverage pro-
posals by expanding the availability of services at commu-
nity, migrant, homeless, and public housing health cen-
ters; and
Whereas the President has proposed to double the number of
people served by health centers: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This resolution may be cited as the ‘‘Resolution to
Expand Access to Community Health Centers (REACH)
Initiative’’.
SEC. 2. SENSE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
It is the sense of the House of Representatives that
appropriations for consolidated health centers under sec-
tion 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
254b) should be increased by 100 percent over 5 fiscal
years, ending in 2006, in order to double the number of
•HRES 87 IH
individuals who receive health care services at community,
migrant, homeless, and public housing health centers.
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