S-4117               _______________________________________________

                                          SENATE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 8024

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1988 Regular Session

By Senators DeJarnatt, Kreidler, Moore, Niemi, McMullen, Williams, Garrett, Rasmussen, Fleming and Wojahn

Read first time 1/21/88 and referred to Committee on Health Care & Corrections.

TO THE HONORABLE RONALD REAGAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:

          We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

          WHEREAS, The United States collectively spends between ten percent and eleven percent of its annual gross national product on health care; and

          WHEREAS, This rate is substantially higher than that of most of the industrialized democracies of the world; and

          WHEREAS,  The infant mortality rate, a widely recognized index of the overall quality of a nation's health care system, is higher in the United States than in France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, and Canada; and

          WHEREAS, Between thirty and forty million Americans are not covered by any form of health insurance; and

          WHEREAS, The United States and South Africa alone among the industrialized nations of the world lack any form of universal health coverage; and

          WHEREAS, Medicare is not fulfilling the promise of affordable health care for all of our senior citizens; and

          WHEREAS, The present system of health care in the United States makes inadequate provision for long-term care; and

          WHEREAS, The present system of health care in the United States makes inadequate provision for those afflicted with catastrophic illnesses; and

          WHEREAS, The present system of health care fails to distribute equitably the benefits of advances in medical technology;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully  pray that Congress consider a new and comprehensive health care program for all Americans, to include:

          (1) A system of basic health care coverage available to all Americans;

          (2) A system of basic dental care coverage available to all Americans;

          (3) Adequate coverage for catastrophic illness;

          (4) Adequate coverage for long-term health care;

          (5) Coverage for home health care and hospice;

          (6) A comprehensive "wellness" program, including education in the areas of nutrition and healthy lifestyle, and an emphasis on preventive medicine; and

          (7) Sufficient coverage for maintenance of mental, as well as physical, health.

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.