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RESOLUTION URGING CONGRESS TO PASS COMPREHENSIVE FEDERAL HEALTH REFORM LEGISLATION CONSISTENT WITH NACo�S HEALTH CARE REFORM PRINCIPLES

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WHEREAS, experts from across the political spectrum agree that America�s health care system is �broken� and unsustainable in its present form; and
WHEREAS, families in Miami-Dade County are experiencing this crisis right now, confronting the high cost of health care that threatens their financial stability, leaves them exposed to higher premiums and deductibles, and puts them at risk for a possible loss of health insurance; and
WHEREAS, employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have nearly doubled in recent years making it increasingly difficult for employers, including local governments, to provide health insurance coverage for their employees and retirees; and
WHEREAS, millions of Americans do not have health coverage, or have inadequate coverage and as our economic challenges multiply, the problem of access to health care grows, further straining our capacity to provide care for the uninsured, underinsured and medically indigent; and
WHEREAS, approximately 600,000 Miami-Dade County residents under age 65, which equals more than 29 percent of the population under 65 are without health insurance, of which approximately 300,000 are low-income (at or below 200% of the federal poverty level); and
WHEREAS. Miami-Dade County initiated the Miami-Dade Blue Health Plan to provide medical coverage to those 600,000 uninsured residents; and
WHEREAS, county officials are elected to protect the health and welfare of their constituents; and
WHEREAS, Jackson Health System is the only safety net provider of health services in Miami-Dade County and the largest in the State of Florida, providing an estimated $695 million in charity care in the current fiscal year; and
WHEREAS, the National Association of Counties (NACo) Health System Reform Working Group, appointed by President Don Stapley in July 2008 and chaired by President-Elect Valerie Brown, has held three regional hearings to explore the health crisis and to hear what county officials believe should be done about it and has summarized its findings in Restoring the Partnership for American Health: Counties in a 21st Century Health System which was approved and adopted by resolution of the NACo Health Steering Committee and Board of Directors on March 9, 2009.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that this Board:
Section 1. Endorses NACo�s health reform principles, as summarized in Restoring the Partnership for American Health: Counties in a 21st Century Health System; namely, that reform legislation should:
1. restore the partnership between county and federal governments;
2. provide access to affordable, quality health care to all;
3. invest in public health, including health promotion and disease and injury prevention;
4. stabilize and strengthen the local health care safety net system, especially Medicaid and disproportional share hospital (DSH) payments;
5. invest in the development of the health professional and paraprofessional workforce;
6. ensure that county health agencies have the resources to meaningfully use health information technology;
7. enable elderly and disabled persons to receive the services they need in the least restrictive environment; and
8. reform the delivery and financing of health services in the jail system.

Section 2. Urges the 111th Congress to enact comprehensive health reform legislation without delay before the end of its first session.