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Claiming "there is no justifiable excuse for delay," University of Michigan
President Mary Sue Coleman, Ph.D., speaking on behalf of the 16-member Institute
of Medicine Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance, urged that work begin
immediately on a plan for providing universal health coverage to everyone in
the U.S. by 2010.
On January 14 at a press briefing in Washington, D.C., Coleman presented results
from the Institute of Medicine's final report documenting the economic, social
and personal consequences of not providing health insurance to 43 million uninsured
Americans. The report is the culmination of three years of work by the IOM
committee, which was co-chaired by President Coleman and Arthur Kellerman,
M.D., M.P.H., professor and chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at
Emory University's School of Medicine. The committee's report emphasizes
that the consequences of uninsurance, in economic as well as health care delivery
terms, affect everyone in America, not just those without health coverage.
"Lack of health insurance in the United States is a critical problem that
can and should be eliminated," says Coleman. "Achieving universal coverage
will require federal leadership and support." The committee advanced what it
called five guiding principles for any proposed solutions to insuring all Americans:
- health care coverage should be universal;
- it should be continuous;
- it should be affordable to individuals and families;
- the strategy for health insurance should be affordable and sustainable
for society;
- health insurance should promote access to high-quality care that is effective,
efficient, safe, timely, patient-centered and equitable.
The Institute of Medicine is one of the National Academies created by the
U.S. Congress to serve as an independent scientific adviser to the nation,
striving to provide advice that is unbiased, based on evidence and grounded
in science. The Office of Congressional and Government Affairs is the principal
liaison office between the National Academies and Capitol Hill.
The committee's full report is available online at www.iom.edu/report.asp?id=17632
-SFP
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