[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 6 (Tuesday, February 1, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 1, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                 ``YES, THERE IS A HEALTH CARE CRISIS''

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Bonior] is recognized for 60 minutes.
  Mr. BONIOR. Mr. Speaker, for those of our guests who are watching the 
proceedings, they should know we are in a section of the proceedings 
called Special Orders.
  The legislative business of the House today has concluded. This time 
available at the end of legislative business affords those of us an 
opportunity who feel strongly about issues, subjects, to speak out.
  Members of the House as well as the Senate are located in their 
committees and their task forces and their offices and are pursuing the 
business of the country.
  Mr. Speaker, this past week we found out what happened to the former 
advisers of President George Bush.
  And I have good news and bad news to report.
  The good news is that the people who urged George Bush, during the 
depths of the recession 3 years ago to say ``there is no recession * * 
* they have found jobs.''
  That's the good news.
  The bad news is, it looks like they've all found jobs as health care 
advisers.
  And once again, they're proving that they have their fingers firmly 
planted not on the pulse, but on the elbow of the American public.
  For it was exactly 1 week ago tonight, that in response to the 
President's brilliant State of the Union Address; in which the 
President described the urgent need for fundamental health care reform; 
in which he talked about the millions of sick children who go untreated 
because their parents can't afford health insurance; in which he 
described the 81 million Americans with preexisting conditions, who 
either can't afford coverage, can't get coverage, and can't switch 
jobs; and the millions of American families and small businesses who 
face ever-rising insurance premiums; and the rising Medicare and 
Medicaid costs that are crowding out public investment on jobs and 
education and training and research; and the waste and price gouging 
and high drug prices dragging on the system today.

  After the President described all that, and presented his plan to 
provide guaranteed private health insurance that can never be taken 
away.
  A leader from the other side in the other body went on television to 
deliver the response, looked the camera straight in the eye, and said, 
``America has * * * no health care crisis.''
  Let me say that one more time, Mr. Speaker, in case you missed it.
  Last week a leader from the other side in the other body said--in a 
statement that has been repeated since then by many of our colleagues 
on the other side of the aisle: ``America has * * * no health care 
crisis.''
  It was a statement worthy for nomination in the George Bush wing of 
the Out-of-Touch Hall of Fame.
  I can see it now:
  1929, Herbert Hoover, ``Prosperity is right around the corner.''
  1974, Richard Nixon, ``These tapes don't prove a thing.''
  1991, George Bush, ``There is no recession.''
  And 1994, the leader from the other body, ``There is no health care 
crisis.''
  Nearly 60 million Americans are without health coverage at some time 
each year, and the best response the other side can come up with is: 
Take two aspirin and call us in 3 years.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people deserve better.
  They deserve health insurance that will always be there for them--
guaranteed private health benefits that can never be taken away.
  In the past year, we've heard a lot of numbers and statistics used to 
dramatize the health care crisis.
  But we've got to remember that health care is more than just numbers 
and statistics, more than just reimbursement formulas and hospital 
beds--it's the real lives of real people.
  Democrats, Republicans, and Independents--it doesn't have anything to 
do with party, and it doesn't matter where you come from--this health 
care crisis, in one way or another, affects us all.
  No health care crisis?
  Tell that to Siegfried Hoffman, a Michigan resident who was one of 50 
brave Americans--one from every State in the Union--who came to the 
Capitol last week to tell their stories.
  Three years ago, Mr. Hoffman was training for a marathon when he was 
diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease. Today, he can barely walk. But 
last week, he moved slowly across the room with the aid of a cane, just 
to show that he still can.
  He took the microphone and said:

       I did everything right. For 28 years, I didn't miss a 
     single day of work. For 28 years, I didn't miss a single 
     insurance payment. But when the time came, and I needed my 
     health insurance to be there for me, I couldn't get any 
     benefits. I had to hire a lawyer to get the insurance company 
     to pay my costs.

  Then he said:

       I wonder what happens to people who can't afford a lawyer 
     or can't afford health care coverage?

  Mr. Speaker, tell Mr. Hoffman there's no health care crisis. Tell him 
that it can't happen to any one of us.
  Tell Joyce Heneage of Houston, TX. She was working full-time 4 years 
ago when she was diagnosed with cancer.
  After spending many months in the hospital, one day here employer 
presented her with an ultimatum: either quit or be fired.
  Just because she got sick, she lost her job, she ran through her 
savings, she lost her house, and today she's homeless and penniless and 
living in a mission. But she'll proudly tell you that she's working for 
that room.
  Here's a woman who worked hard, who paid her taxes, who did 
everything right, and when she needed help, she was left out in the 
cold.
  And the real kicker, Mr. Speaker, is this: Joyce's employer was one 
of the major hospitals in the United States.
  Mr. Speaker, tell Joyce that there's no health care crisis. Tell her 
it can't happen to any one of us.

                              {time}  1340

  It reminds me of a group of women who in my own district came to 
visit me a few years ago, five of them, all single mothers. All worked 
in a nursing home. All were represented by a labor union and were 
making about $5 an hour. None, not one, had health insurance. They were 
taking care of our mothers and our fathers and our grandparents. Not 
one.
  One woman told me with tears in her eyes, ``I go to bed every night 
saying a prayer that my son doesn't become ill.'' Tell them that we do 
not have a health care crisis.
  Tell Bob and Michele Peterson from Potomac, MD.
  Their 9-year old son was diagnosed with a potentially fatal blood 
disease and needed a bone marrow transplant. So far the bills to care 
for their son have exceeded $800,000. But the family found out halfway 
through that their insurance policy has a lifetime limit--and won't pay 
more than $250,000.
  This was an upper-middle-class family with good health insurance--and 
now they're forced to hold community fundraisers to raise the money 
that will keep their son alive--because they can't find another 
insurance company who will cover his preexisting condition.
  For those Members who are not aware, as the President said a week 
ago, I think the number was 76 percent of us have lifetime limits on 
our insurance policies. It could happen to any one of us or any one of 
our loved ones in our families.
  Michele says with tears in her eyes, ``I thought we were safe. I 
thought we were in the clear. Now, we have $700,000 in bills--and 
nobody will cover us.''
  Mr. Speaker, tell the Petersons that there is no health care crisis. 
Tell them it can't happen to any one of us.
  Tell Erma Zimmerman, from Sioux City, IA. Her husband was working as 
a carpenter when, at age 50, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.
  He lost his job, and not too long after that, lost his health 
insurance. The family ran through their life savings and now Erma is 
saddled with debts, her husband is in a nursing home, and she's worried 
she may end up on welfare.
  She says: ``There's really little that can be done for my husband 
now. But hopefully my appearance in Washington can help make a 
difference for those who follow.''
  Mr. Speaker, tell Mrs. Zimmerman that there is no health care crisis. 
Tell her that it can't happen to any one of us.
  Finally, tell JoAnn Cayce from Thornton, AR. She's known as the 
Mother Theresa of Arkansas. For 42 years, like her mother before her, 
JoAnn has been volunteering to help the working poor in rural Arkansas.
  Her own daughter contracted cancer and was given 6 weeks to live, but 
she has survived.
  She has seen firsthand the devastation of this health care crisis. 
And last week she said: ``You know, I can't afford a plane ticket to 
fly the leader from the other body to Arkansas. But if he's willing to 
come here, I'd be happy to buy him a Greyhound bus ticket, and I'll 
take him around here, and I'll show him the health care crisis.''
  Mr. Speaker, you can't tell JoAnn that there's no health care crisis. 
Because she knows it can happen to any one of us.
  You don't need to travel to Washington, DC, to hear about a health 
care crisis. Just go to your local hospital. Talk to the people in your 
local barber shop. Talk to your neighbor.
  We all know somebody who has a health care horror story.
  And we all know we have got a health care crisis in this country. To 
suggest anything else is to be dishonest with the American people, 
because they know we have a crisis.
  And I'm happy to say, I think the message is starting to get through. 
After the public outcry that followed his first statement last week, 
the leader from the other side in the other body is starting to back 
away from his no crisis line.
  It just goes to show how strongly the public feels about this issue.
  I know there are still some who are convinced that we don't have a 
health care crisis, that we don't need fundamental reform.
  But we can't let a few doomsayers and naysayers derail the whole 
process. It's taken us nearly 60 years to get to this point and we 
can't turn back now. We've got to move forward.
  Mr. Speaker, it's time for us to get beyond the rhetoric, to get 
beyond the blind partisanship, and work together to solve this problem.
  Nothing is worse than the system--not the care, but the system--we 
have now.
  I know there are details that need to be worked out. I know that 
there's going to have to be compromise--but there's one thing we must 
never compromise and that is guaranteed private health care coverage 
that can never be taken away.
  In a USA Today poll released today, 79 percent of the American 
people--four out of every five Americans--said that they want a plan 
that guarantees health insurance for all.
  And 73 percent said the President should veto anything less.
  That is why this card is so important.
  This card guarantees a comprehensive benefits to every American that 
can never be taken away.
  With no lifetime caps.
  With this card, if you lose your job or switch jobs, you're covered.
  If you leave your job to start a small business or retire early, 
you're covered.
  If you have a preexisting condition, or a family member gets sick, 
even if it's a life-threatening illness, you're covered.
  And if an insurance company tries to drop you for any reason, you're 
still covered--because that will be illegal.
  That is the ultimate goal of health care reform--to give all 
Americans the peace of mind to know that no matter what happens, health 
care will always be there for them.
  And as we move forward in this debate, I hope we can all remember 
that health care isn't just about numbers and statistics, it's about 
the real lives of real people.
  It's about the gentleman with Lou Gehrig's disease from Michigan and 
the woman with cancer from Texas.
  It's about the parents from Maryland and the woman from Iowa, and the 
tens of millions of people like them whose lives and fortunes will be 
riding on what we do here the next 7 months.
  Nothing we do in this Congress will be as important.
  Nothing we do will be more long-lasting.
  Nothing we do will touch the lives of more people than health care 
reform.
  We have a crisis. And a crisis requires leadership, it requires 
determination, and it requires coverage.
  And in the months to come, I hope we all have the courage to do what 
it right.
  Because the future of our children and the future of our country 
depends on it.

                          ____________________