High Voltage Shareware/high1.zip/high1/DIR23/HREPORT.ZIP/FORWARD.TXT

Text File | 1993-10-26 | 6KB | 128 lines

Foreword -- Hillary Rodham Clinton



     Together, we stand at a unique moment in history.  In the
coming months, we have an opportunity to accomplish what our
nation has never done before: provide health security to every
American - health care that can never be taken away.

     The debate over health care reform that will unfold over the
next several months touches all of our lives and the lives of our
children, our parents and generations to come.  Because this
issue is so critical to all of our futures, it is important that
all of us have the opportunity to understand the complex issues
and difficult choices that lie behind the design of any
comprehensive reform effort.

     That is why we have written this book - to lay out the
dimensions of the crisis that confronts our nation, explain its
elements and complexities, and state the case for comprehensive
reform as proposed in the Health Security Act.

     Book after book has been written about the intricacies of
the health care system and the difficulties of addressing these
problems.  But most of them have not been written for people like
you and me - people who may not be experts in health care policy
but need and want to understand an issue so vital to our nation
and our future.

     I invite each and every American to read this book, to
listen to the stories told here, to think about the issues and
grapple with this complex - but solvable - problem.  Then I
invite every American to join in the debate.

      Every month, two million Americans lose their insurance for
some period of time.  Every day, thousands of Americans discover
that, despite years of working hard and paying for health
insurance, they are no longer covered.  Every hour, hundreds who
need care walk into an emergency room because it is the only
place they can go.  And business owners, large and small,
struggle to stay afloat while providing coverage for their
families and employees.

     Each time someone loses health coverage or is denied
insurance, their experience becomes another chapter in a growing
national tragedy.  Anxiety and fear about the cost of health care
affect tens of millions of Americans - those with health
insurance and those without.  Even those with the very best
benefits worry that their insurance might not be there tomorrow
or may no longer be affordable.

     Over the past months, I have had the extraordinary
opportunity of listening to thousands of Americans talk about
health care.  I've sat in living rooms talking to farm families.
I've stood on loading docks talking to people who have worked for
10, 15, and even 20 years without insurance.  I've visited
hospitals, talking to doctors and nurses.  I have learned
firsthand about the tragedies of hard-working families who simply
cannot get the health care they deserve.

     I have read letter after letter of the more than 800,000 we
have received at the White House from people all over our nation
who took the time to sit down and share their concerns about
health care.  I have been moved by stories of parents who cannot
afford a prescription for a child who is sick and hurting, of
families barely hanging on financially and emotionally because of
a health care crisis, of people trying to start a new business
suffocated by skyrocketing insurance costs, of older Americans
forced to choose between food and medicine, and of young people
just leaving school unable to afford insurance.

     I have carried their stories in my mind as we worked long
and hard to devise solid answers to tough questions. The
President's Health Security Act is a product of all the people
who took the time to share their ideas, their research, and their
personal experiences with us.  And, as we move forward in this
great national discussion, we must focus on these people, their
health care, and their peace of mind - not solely on theories or
statistics.

     The concerns that were expressed again and again - from
those who need care and those who give care -  convinced me of
one point: although America can still proudly boast the world's
finest health professionals and astounding medical advances, our
health care system is broken. If we go on without change, the
consequences will be devastating for millions of Americans and
disastrous for the nation in human and economic terms.

     As a mother, I can understand the feeling of helplessness
that must come when a parent cannot afford a vaccination or
well-child exam.  As a wife, I can imagine the fear that grips a
couple whose health insurance vanishes because of a lost job, a
layoff or an unexpected illness.  As a sister, I can see the
inequities and inconsistencies of a health care system that
offers widely varying coverage, depending on where a family
member lives or works.  As a daughter, I can appreciate the
suffering that comes when a parent's treatment is determined as
much by bureaucratic rules and regulations as by doctors'
expertise.  And as a woman who has spent many years in the
workforce, I can empathize with those who labor for a lifetime
and still cannot be assured they will always have health
coverage.

     As an American citizen concerned about the health of our
nation, I stand with you as we confront this challenge that
touches all of us.  We can and will achieve lasting, meaningful
change.