Nancy Kassebaum: “I would like to offer just a few observations on comments that were made by President Clinton in his State of the Union…”

“I would like to offer just a few observations on comments that were made by President Clinton in his State of the Union speech the other evening regarding health insurance reform. I was pleased that President Clinton mentioned it, because I think it is a subject of great importance to us. As we debate the future of the Medicare and Medicaid programs, American families are growing increasingly anxious about the availability, portability, and cost of their own private health coverage. While the comprehensive health reform debate ended well over a year ago, the American people continue to rank health reform as a priority and health care as a top concern. A poll conducted late last year by Princeton Survey Research Associates found that more Americans are concerned about their own health coverage than crime, high taxes, the 'political system,' and the economy. Both the Princeton poll and a Times Mirror poll also found that health care topped the list of issues Americans most want the Presidential candidates to address. The health insurance problem is not merely one of perception. The number of uninsured and underinsured Americans continues to climb: First, there are now over 40 million Americans without health insurance. Second, over 1 million working Americans have lost health insurance in the last 2 years alone.”