Kaufman Joins Democratic Senators to Discuss How Health Reform Benefits the Middle Class

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November 10, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — At a press conference today, Senator Ted Kaufman (D-DE) and fellow Democratic Senators Benjamin Cardin (D-MD), Kay Hagan (D-NC) and Paul Kirk (D-MA) joined a small business owner to discuss how health insurance reform will provide stable, affordable coverage for the middle class.

Under the current system, the cost of health care rises three times faster than wages and continues to eat away the paychecks of hard-working Americans. Reform will lower costs and ensure that middle class families will have the health care coverage that they need.

"In Delaware and across the country, health insurance reform is essential for stable and affordable coverage for the middle class,” said Sen. Kaufman. “If we do nothing, rising premiums in future years will force hard-working Americans to choose between health insurance and paying their home mortgage or children's tuition. No American family should fear the denial of coverage based on a pre-existing condition or other technicality."

In Delaware, the average healthcare premium for a family of four has doubled in the last eight years. If current trends continue, this premium is expected to reach $29,000 in 2016 – almost half of Delaware residents’ median income.

Building on the Senate’s health care reform bill, Sen. Kaufman also recently introduced the Health Care Fraud Enforcement Act of 2009, co-sponsored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Arlen Specter (D-PA), Herb Kohl (D-WI), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). The legislation would further strengthen the government’s capacity to protect all Americans from waste, fraud and abuse in both government and private health insurance.

Source: Senator Ted Kaufman