Common Council of the City of Bloomington, Indiana

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Presentations were made by members of Hoosiers for a Commonsense Health Plan: Drs. Rob Stone, and Mary Mahern, by retired Bloomington Hospital CEO Mr. Bud Kohr, and by Cindy Lott for the board of the Monroe County Volunteers in Medicine Clinic. Many members of the public testified as well. The final vote was 7 in favor, none opposed, and 2 abstentions.

WHEREAS, over 46 million Americans, 860,000 Hoosiers and 15,000 Monroe County residents have no health insurance, and over 80% of these uninsured people live in families in which at least one family member works; and

WHEREAS, large and small businesses are having increasing difficulty providing health insurance to their employees, and this difficulty is adding to the number of uninsured; and

WHEREAS, The Institute of Medicine estimates that 18,000 people die every year because they lack insurance and cannot access adequate health care; and

WHEREAS, The Institute of Medicine estimates that tens of millions of Americans are under-insured, lacking sufficient coverage for vital care and medications; and

WHEREAS, even those with adequate insurance are facing growing premiums,
co-payments and deductibles, as well as the fear that their insurance might be cancelled; and

WHEREAS, illness and medical bills are the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in the nation and Indiana has one of the highest rates of medical bankruptcy in the country; and

WHEREAS, this growing problem cannot be ignored any longer by our legislative bodies; and

WHEREAS, United States Representative John Conyers has introduced House Resolution 676, (HR 676), the United States National Health Insurance Act, which would provide healthcare to all; and

WHEREAS, a proposal for Universal Publicly Paid Health Care in Indiana will be introduced in the Indiana legislature in January 2007; and

WHEREAS, the Common Council passed Resolution 94-54 in 1994 calling for a universal health care system and since that time, the health care crisis has only worsened; and

WHEREAS, health care is a basic human right;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF BLOOMINGTON, MONROE COUNTY, INDIANA, THAT:

SECTION I. The Council supports the principle of universal publicly-paid health insurance that would provide health care to everyone at reasonable costs.

SECTION II. The Council supports universal publicly-paid health insurance that would provide for physician and hospital visits, pharmaceuticals, preventative care, dental care, long-term care, substance abuse treatment and mental health care without deductibles and co-payments, and would provide all patients and providers freedom of choice.

SECTION III. The Council supports and endorses HR 676 the United States National
Health Insurance Act and respectfully requests our elected federal officials to endorse and adopt HR 676.

SECTION IV. The Council supports and endorses State legislation providing for universal publicly-paid health insurance for all Indiana residents.

SECTION V. The Council directs the City Clerk to send a copy of this resolution to the President of the United States, members of the Indiana Congressional Delegation, other members of the United States Congress in positions of leadership in the House and Senate and their committees with jurisdiction over public health, the Governor of Indiana and members of Bloomington’s delegation to the Indiana legislature, and other leaders of the State legislature as deemed appropriate.

SECTION VI. The Council directs that this resolution be posted on the City of Bloomington web site.

PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Common Council of the City of Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana, upon this 6th day of December, 2006.

CHRIS STURBAUM, President | Bloomington Common Council

SIGNED and APPROVED by me upon this 7th day of December, 2006.

MARK KRUZAN, Mayor
City of Bloomington

ATTEST:

REGINA MOORE, Clerk
City of Bloomington

This resolution is sponsored by Council members Tim Mayer, Andy Ruff, Chris Gaal, and Mike Diedhof, and documents the problem of access to affordable health care. The resolution points out that the growing cost of health insurance makes adequate care inaccessible to many, causes over 18,000 deaths in the country each year, brings about great suffering, triggers personal bankruptcy and stifles small businesses. Concluding that health care is a basic human right, the resolution supports the principle of universal publicly-paid health insurance that would provide care to everyone. The resolution supports a plan that would provide for physician and hospital visits, pharmaceuticals, preventative care, dental care, long-term care, and non-discriminatory mental health care without deductibles and co-payments, and would provide all patients and providers freedom of choice. Finally, the resolution supports federal and State legislative initiatives to implement universal publicly-paid health care.