Authorizing the Committee on Public Health and Human Services to hold hearings to investigate the state of health care for residents of the City of Philadelphia and the ongoing work of the Department of Health to develop a plan for universal health care coverage; and further authorizing the Committee in furtherance of such investigation to issue subpoenas as may be necessary to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.

WHEREAS, In 2003, there were an estimated 136,000 Philadelphia residents who were uninsured and thereby unable to afford access to decent health care on a regular basis; and

WHEREAS, Health care expenditures for Philadelphia residents exceeds $8.6 billion annually; and

WHEREAS, Nationally, 18,000 deaths a year are attributed to a lack of health insurance and each year persons without health insurance incur an average of $1600 to $3300 in health care expenses according to the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on the Consequences of Uninsurance; and

WHEREAS, On November 4, 2003, the electors of the City of Philadelphia approved by a vote of 149,558 to 49,754 an amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter declaring that health care is an essential safeguard of human life and dignity, and that there is an obligation for the City of Philadelphia to ensure that every resident is able to realize this fundamental right; and

WHEREAS, This amendment to the Philadelphia Home Rule Charter requires the Department of Health to prepare a plan for universal health care coverage that permits everyone in the City of Philadelphia to obtain decent health care on a regular basis; and

WHEREAS, The Committee on Public Health and Human Services must investigate the state of health care for residents of the City of Philadelphia, analyze the existing barriers to obtaining decent health care on a regular basis, and evaluate possible remedies; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That the Committee on Public Health and Human Services is authorized to hold hearings to investigate the state of health care for residents of the City of Philadelphia and the ongoing work of the Department of Health to develop a plan for universal health care coverage.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Committee on Public Health and Human Services is authorized to issue subpoenas as may be necessary to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents to the full extent authorized under Section 2-401 of the Home Rule Charter.

End