“This week is ‘Cover the Uninsured Week,’ and the problem of millions of Americans who work but have no health insurance continues to grow,” stated Congresswoman Solis. “During President Bush’s tenure, the number of uninsured has increased by 6 million nationwide. In California, 6,710,000 people in California are without health insurance, including 210,000 in the San Gabriel Valley or 1 of 3 residents. Nationally, 37% of non-elderly Latinos are uninsured, the most of any group. Almost all of these uninsured individuals live in a household with at least one worker. This is wrong and we need to act.”

“Unfortunately, over the last five years, President Bush and the Republican Congress have done nothing to bring down the number of uninsured,” Congresswoman Solis pointed out. “Furthermore, Republican proposals that have been put forward would do more harm than good -- undermining employer-provided insurance and resulting in net increases in the number of uninsured.”

“It is important that we now move forward to expand access to affordable, quality and reliable health coverage for America’s families,” said Solis. “The three bills I am co-sponsoring are targeted to build on programs that already work and ensure that three fast-growing segments of the uninsured have access to affordable health coverage: small business employees, low-income working parents, and people ages 55 to 65,” added Solis.

Congresswoman Solis noted that she has cosponsored three bills that target each important group. The Small Business Health Insurance Promotion Act (H.R. 2073) would create a 50 percent tax credit to reduce health care costs for small businesses, their workers, and the self-employed. Currently, over half of America’s uninsured workers are self-employed or work for a small business with fewer than 50 employees. 

The Family Care Act (H.R. 2071) would lower costs and expand affordable coverage for working parents, by making the parents of children eligible for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid also eligible for coverage. These working parents frequently work at jobs that do not provide access to employer-based insurance. 

The Medicare Early Access Act (H.R. 2072) would allow people between the ages 55 and 64 to purchase Medicare coverage with a subsidized premium. Currently, there are 3.5 million uninsured people age 55 and over who are not yet eligible for Medicare. Together, these bills would cover over 23 million uninsured Americans.

“Millions of working, uninsured Americans go to bed every night worrying what will happen to them and their families if a major illness or injury strikes,” said Solis. “This is a national scandal. I am fighting this year to try to ensure that Congress moves forward on this legislation – so that quality health coverage becomes available to millions more Americans. It should be our highest priority.”