(Washington, DC) - Congresswoman Brown made the following statement: "I am in full support of comprehensive health care reform: the need is clear. Many of my constituents, and minorities nationwide from the African American and Hispanic communities, make up nearly half of the estimated 50 million Americans without health insurance.  And in Florida overall, nearly 21% of our residents are uninsured. Moreover, health care costs are unsustainable:  Medicare and Medicaid may be near bankruptcy by 2017, and one-fifth of our nation's GDP will go towards health care spending.

"In large part, I believe that President Obama successfully explained to the American public that health care reform is indeed urgent on multiple fronts:  for middle-class families in danger of losing health coverage, and for the nearly 50 million Americans who do not have the preventive care they need. Reform is also urgent for small businesses struggling under the burden of continually rising insurance costs for their employees. However, when many good ideas are introduced in Congress, what eventually translates to actual policy gets altered.

"One aspect of health care reform of utmost importance to me is maintaining proper funding for Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSH), like Shands Jacksonville, Miami Jackson-Memorial, Tampa General (and Grady Health System in Atlanta, Georgia, which was nearly forced to close recently because of a lack of funding), who provide healthcare to uninsured and/or individuals with limited incomes.  Disproportionate Share Hospitals are invaluable, as they are the one true safety net for the working poor nationwide.  I singlehandedly kept DSH funding in the Budget Reconciliation negotiations during the Clinton years, and certainly do not intend to passively watch funding evaporate during current health care negotiations.  For a state like Florida in particular, with a large elderly population, crippling DSH's would be disastrous.  I will work with the Obama administration and my colleagues on Capitol Hill to make health care reform a better, more suitable plan for everyone, especially vulnerable populations.

"Although the exact details are still being worked out in committee,  I  believe that in the end, we will agree on a health care reform plan that will control rising costs and ensure that all Americans have access to quality healthcare."

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