Mr. President, too many in our country are uninsured or unable to afford health care. For those with coverage, costs continue to rise as insurance premiums and copayment increases make it more difficult to continue to access health care. We must take steps to increase health insurance coverage and expand access to affordable health care, but we must not do so in a manner which will undermine existing coverage and leave consumers without adequate protections and benefit mandates.
I appreciate the efforts of my colleague from Wyoming, Senator Enzi, to expand access to employees through his bill, S. 1955, the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act. However, the preemption of state laws will have negative impacts on consumers. Existing state benefit requirements ensure consumers are protected against the cost of illness and provided coverage to preventive services at earlier stages for the better likelihood of favorable treatment. AARP, the American Diabetes Association, and the American Cancer Society, a sample of the many health care related organizations opposed to the legislation, believe that the bill "could remove critical consumer protections pertaining to rating and benefits as well as reduce broad access to the services necessary to continue producing better outcomes for those with cancer, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses."
Health care organizations are not alone in their opposition to this legislation. Attorney Generals across the country, including Attorney General Mark Bennett in Hawaii, are opposed to S. 1955 because it would cause health insurance consumers to lose important state protections.
Mr. President, we must act to make health care more affordable. An alternative to S. 1955 is S. 2510, the Small Employers Health Benefits Program Act. This legislation would help improve access to insurance without bypassing state consumer protections. The legislation would also provide a tax credit to make health coverage more affordable.
In addition, we need to enact reforms to ensure generic competition for name brand prescription drugs. The legitimate patent protection period needs to be respected, but we need to make sure that generic prescription drugs get to market in a timely manner and that name brand drug companies cannot simply pay generic drug companies to not make a drug. Greater use of generic drugs will help slow the increase in health care costs without reducing access.
Unfortunately, the majority in the current Congress have made it more difficult to access health care. For example, the Deficit Reduction Act contained a provision which will require individuals applying or reapplying for Medicaid to verify their citizenship through additional documentation requirements. For most native-born citizens, these new requirements will most likely mean that they will have to show a U.S. passport or birth certificate. These requirements will create barriers to health care, are unnecessary, and will be an administrative nightmare to implement.
One in 12 U.S. born adults, who earn incomes of less than $25,000, report they do not have a U.S. passport or birth certificate in their possession. Also, more than 10 percent of U.S.-born parents, with incomes below $25,000, do not have a birth certificate or passport for at least one of their children. An estimated 3.2 to 4.6 million U.S.-born citizens may have their Medicaid coverage threatened simply because they do not have a passport or birth certificate readily available. Many others will also have difficulty in securing these documents, such as Native Americans born in home settings, Hurricane Katrina survivors, and homeless individuals.
Having to acquire a birth certificate or a passport before seeking treatment will create an additional barrier to care. Some beneficiaries may not be able to afford the financial cost or time investment associated with obtaining a birth certificate or passport. The costs vary by state and can be as much as $23 to get a birth certificate or $97 for a passport. Taking the time and obtaining the necessary transportation to acquire the birth certificate or a passport, particularly in rural areas where public transportation may not exist, creates a hardship for Medicaid beneficiaries.
Further compounding the hardship is the failure to provide an exemption from the new requirements for individuals suffering from mental or physical disabilities. Those suffering from diseases such as Alzheimer's may lose their Medicaid coverage because they may not have or be able to easily obtain a passport or birth certificate.
It is likely these documentation requirements will prevent beneficiaries who are otherwise eligible for Medicaid to enroll in the program. This will result in more uninsured Americans, an increased burden on our healthcare providers, and the delay of treatment for needed health care.
I have introduced legislation, S. 2305, to repeal the additional documentation requirements to ensure that Medicaid beneficiaries are not unfairly denied access to care by these burdensome and unneeded requirements. I had hoped that I would be able to offer my bill as an amendment to the pending legislation. However, the majority has taken action that will prevent this from occurring on S. 1955.
Mr. President, we also need to improve and simplify the Medicare prescription drug benefit so that all seniors are able to obtain all of the medications that they need. We must correct the mistakes of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act and fulfill the promise to seniors that the federal government will help beneficiaries get the drugs they need. We also need to extend the deadline so that seniors are not unfairly penalized if they need more time to figure out which plan is right for them.
Another important Medicare issue are provider reimbursements. Rising costs, difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff members, and declining reimbursement rates make it necessary to make improvements in Medicare reimbursements to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have access to health care services. We must increase Medicare reimbursements for service providers so that they can continue to afford to treat Medicare beneficiaries.
Another issue that should be addressed during health care week is stem cell legislation. I am a proud cosponsor of S. 471, introduced by Senators Specter and Harkin, which would authorize federal funding for research on stem cells derived from embryos donated from in vitro fertilization. Unless this legislation is enacted, these embryos will likely be destroyed if they are not donated for research. This bill also would institute strong ethical guidelines for this research. The House companion measure is pending consideration in the Senate. We must pass this bill so that researchers may move forward on ethical, federally funded research projects that develop better treatments for those suffering from diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson's.
Mr. President, I am afraid that this will be a health week only in terms of rhetoric because we are not able to offer amendments to address the pressing health needs of this country. Instead of working together to find common solutions to better meet the health care needs of our country, the majority party has simply offered up legislation that is flawed and refuses to work with us in a meaningful way on this issue.
Thank you, Mr. President.
