STATEMENT BY THE NATIONAL URBAN LEAGUE
INSTITUTE FOR OPPORTUNITY & EQUALITY IN SUPPORT OF H.R. 1142,
"THE WORKING AMERICAN FAMILIES ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE ACT OF 2001"

Washington, DC, April 4, 2001 –The following statement was issued by Dr. Maya Rockeymoore, Senior Resident Scholar for Health & Income Security at the National Urban League’s Institute for Opportunity & Equality, regarding the League’s support for the Working American Families Access to Health Care Act of 2000 (H.R. 1142 or the Medi-Access Plan), a bill that seeks to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in our current health delivery system.

Said Dr. Rockeymoore, "The pursuit of universal health care coverage for America’s working families is fundamental to the National Urban League’s mission of securing economic self-sufficiency for America’s underserved populations.

U.S. census figures show that 42.6 million Americans are without health insurance. Of this amount, 24.5 percent are those people who are near or below the poverty line. As a disproportionate share of lower income families, African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to experience the significant challenges presented by a lack of access to health care.

In addition, a recent report by Families USA confirms what we already suspected about treatment for uninsured people with chronic illnesses: when compared to those with insurance, uninsured people with illnesses like hypertension, arthritis and high cholesterol were less likely to receive essential medical tests, more likely to go without medication, less likely to visit a doctor, and four time more likely to be denied care because of a lack of money. America’s families cannot maximize their productivity when they are in pain.

If we truly care about increasing the economic well being of our citizens, we should do all that we can to direct crucial resources towards closing the opportunity gap in health for America’s working families. H.R. 1142 represents a critical first step towards identifying ways in which our country can increase access to health care for all of America’s families. The National Urban League Institute for Opportunity & Equality is therefore pleased to join with Reps. John Conyers, David Bonior, Donna Christian Christiansen and Stephanie Tubbs Jones as they introduce this important bill.

A former chief of staff and administrative assistant for Congressman Charles Rangel (D-NY), Dr. Rockeymoore has also served on the Committee on Ways and Means Democratic Staff, Social Security Subcommittee; was a Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Fellow in the Office of Congressman Melvin Watt (D-NC); was an administrative assistant to the director of the Marion County Health Dept., Indianapolis, Ind.; and, at Purdue University, was a teaching assistant in the Dept. of Political Science and instructor at the Women’s Studies Program.

The National Urban League Institute for Opportunity and Equality conducts research, policy analysis and advocacy focused on issues of critical importance to the African-American community and the nation as a whole.