Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 124.djvu/934

 124 STAT. 908 PUBLIC LAW 111–148—MAR. 23, 2010 ‘‘(C) The requirement, together with the other provi- sions of this Act, will add millions of new consumers to the health insurance market, increasing the supply of, and demand for, health care services, and will increase the number and share of Americans who are insured. ‘‘(D) The requirement achieves near-universal coverage by building upon and strengthening the private employer- based health insurance system, which covers 176,000,000 Americans nationwide. In Massachusetts, a similar require- ment has strengthened private employer-based coverage: despite the economic downturn, the number of workers offered employer-based coverage has actually increased. ‘‘(E) The economy loses up to $207,000,000,000 a year because of the poorer health and shorter lifespan of the uninsured. By significantly reducing the number of the uninsured, the requirement, together with the other provi- sions of this Act, will significantly reduce this economic cost. ‘‘(F) The cost of providing uncompensated care to the uninsured was $43,000,000,000 in 2008. To pay for this cost, health care providers pass on the cost to private insurers, which pass on the cost to families. This cost- shifting increases family premiums by on average over $1,000 a year. By significantly reducing the number of the uninsured, the requirement, together with the other provisions of this Act, will lower health insurance pre- miums. ‘‘(G) 62 percent of all personal bankruptcies are caused in part by medical expenses. By significantly increasing health insurance coverage, the requirement, together with the other provisions of this Act, will improve financial security for families. ‘‘(H) Under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), and this Act, the Federal Government has a significant role in regulating health insurance. The requirement is an essential part of this larger regulation of economic activity, and the absence of the requirement would undercut Federal regulation of the health insurance market. ‘‘(I) Under sections 2704 and 2705 of the Public Health Service Act (as added by section 1201 of this Act), if there were no requirement, many individuals would wait to pur- chase health insurance until they needed care. By signifi- cantly increasing health insurance coverage, the require- ment, together with the other provisions of this Act, will minimize this adverse selection and broaden the health insurance risk pool to include healthy individuals, which will lower health insurance premiums. The requirement is essential to creating effective health insurance markets in which improved health insurance products that are guaranteed issue and do not exclude coverage of pre- existing conditions can be sold. ‘‘(J) Administrative costs for private health insurance, which were $90,000,000,000 in 2006, are 26 to 30 percent of premiums in the current individual and small group