Congressman Bill Thomas (R-CA), Chairman, Subcommittee on Health of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on children's access to health coverage. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, April 8, 1997, in the main Committee hearing room, 1100 Longworth House Office Building, beginning at 10:00 a.m.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be heard from invited witnesses only. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
The percentage of uninsured children has remained relatively stable since 1988. During that period, however, Medicaid coverage has increased as private coverage has declined. From 1988 through 1995, the percentage of uninsured children increased from 13 percent to 13.6 percent, while the percentage of children covered by private insurance dropped from 73.5 percent to 66.4 percent, and Medicaid coverage increased from 15.5 percent to 23.1 percent. Approximately one in four uninsured Americans are children. Of the 71 million children in the United Sates under age 18, 9.6 million are uninsured.
Under current law, there is a large and growing public health care safety net for children. The Federal Government shares the cost of providing comprehensive health coverage to over 16 million children through the Medicaid program. Medicaid currently covers one in four American children and pays for over one-third of all births in the United States. About 3 million of the 9.6 million uninsured children are currently eligible for Medicaid, but their parents or guardians have not enrolled them in the program. In addition to Medicaid, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (P.L. 104-191) enacted in the 104th Congress, limits preexisting conditions and provides significant new protections to pregnant women and children.
There is no clear explanation why children are uninsured, not lending itself to an easy solution. For example, children in families with incomes below 100 percent of poverty are more than twice as likely to be uninsured as children in families with incomes above 200 percent of poverty. However, nearly 14 percent of children without health insurance -- 1.4 million children -- live in families with incomes above 300 percent of poverty. Moreover, while the majority of insured Americans get health coverage through their employer, over 80 percent of uninsured children have parents who work part-time, and nearly 60 percent have parents who work full-time for the entire year. In addition, because of the prevalence of school-based clinics, public health programs and various public and private initiatives, some children without health insurance may in fact have access to health coverage.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Thomas stated: "So far, the issue of children without health insurance coverage has generated a significant amount of heat, but very little light. We need to begin this discussion with a better understanding of the scope of the problem before we advocate solutions. This hearing will provide the first comprehensive Congressional overview of information available on uninsured kids."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The hearing will try to more clearly identify the reasons that children in the United States do not have access to health insurance coverage and the impact that lack of access has on access to health coverage and health status.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit at least six (6) copies of their statement and a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format, with their address and date of hearing noted, by the close of business, Tuesday, April 22, 1997, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Health office, room 1136 Longworth House Office Building, at least one hour before the hearing begins.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be typed in single space on legal-size paper and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. At the same time written statements are submitted to the Committee, witnesses are now requested to submit their statements on a 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect or ASCII format.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, full address, a telephone number where the witness or the designated representative may be reached and a topical outline or summary of the comments and recommendations in the full statement. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-225-1904 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.