Arlen Specter: “as the 106th Congress commences, those of us in the Senate and the House have a new opportunity to make a real…”

“as the 106th Congress commences, those of us in the Senate and the House have a new opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of the American people. It is a chance for us to learn from the past, determine how best to respond to the challenges that are before us, and forge important alliances which will enable us to pass legislation that is important to this nation. I believe it is clear that one of our first priorities must be additional incremental reforms of our health care system. Mr. President, there is no time to waste. Many of our nation's health care problems are getting worse, not better. In its December 1998 report, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) analyzed the March 1998 Current Population Survey, a document generated yearly by the U.S. Census Bureau. EBRI's analysis tells us that in 1997, about 193 million working-age Americans derived their health insurance coverage as follows: approximately 64.2 percent from employer plans; 13.0 percent from Medicare and Medicaid within a total of 14.8 percent from public sources of coverage; and 6.7 percent from other private insurance. This survey also details another troubling statistic: 43.1 million Americans, or 18.3 percent of Americans aged 18-64, were uninsured. This reflects an increase of 7 percent, or 2.8 million uninsured working-age people, since 1995.”