A group of US senators asked US President Bush to work with them on a proposal to expand health insurance to all U.S. residents.
In a letter to US President Bush, the senators wrote that they have developed a broad outline for a proposal that would seek to expand affordable health insurance to all residents and to protect public programs such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Letter to US President Bush was written by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Robert Bennett (R-Utah), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and John Thune (R-S.D.).
The proposal also would seek to revise federal tax rules for health insurance because the rules favor higher-income residents and promote inefficiency, Wyden said. However, he said the senators have not endorsed the health insurance proposal that Bush announced last month in his State of the U nion address.
The senators wrote, “Further delay is unacceptable as costs continue to skyrocket, our population ages and chronic illness increases. In addition, our businesses are at a severe disadvantage when their competitors in the global market get health care for ‘free.'”
White House spokesperson Tony Fratto said that Bush hopes to discuss the proposal with the senators in the near future.