[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 13 (Thursday, February 10, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 10, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    FACES OF THE HEALTH CARE CRISIS

  Mr. RIEGLE. Mr. President, I rise today as part of my continuing 
effort to put a human face on the health care crisis in our country. 
Today I want to share the story of Brant and Dorothy Venlet, who are 
senior citizens who live in Morley, MI.
  Mr. and Mrs. Venlet are on a fixed income and they are struggling 
with the out-of-pocket expenses that they have to pay for prescription 
drugs.
  The husband, Brant, is 76 years old and his wife Dorothy is 75. They 
are both covered by Medicare, which currently does not cover 
prescription drugs. Brant has been retired for 14 years and has been 
purchasing a MediGap insurance policy to try to pick up what he can of 
what Medicare does not cover. Mr. Venlet did not get any retiree health 
benefits because his former employer, a manufacturing company, cut the 
benefits right before he retired.
  Brant suffers from kidney failure and he now needs dialysis 
treatments three times each week. I can tell you from my own family 
experience that is a very difficult thing to have to go through. 
Medicare only pays for a portion of the dialysis.
  So the Venlets need to maintain their supplemental policy to try to 
cover the additional costs. Unfortunately, Brant and Dorothy, in their 
midseventies, are not able to afford a supplemental policy that covers 
prescription drugs. In addition to the medication that Brant needs for 
his kidney problem, Dorothy needs medication for lung problems. So at 
the present time, the Venlets are paying somewhere between $150 and 
$200 a month out of pocket for the medications they need just to keep 
from getting sicker.
  Mr. President, costs like these are devastating to senior citizens, 
whether separate or in couples, and those on fixed incomes. The Venlets 
only make about $1,300 a month from Social Security and Social Security 
disability, and about 15 percent of that now goes just for the 
prescription drugs. This is in addition to their MediGap policy 
premium, which they have to have and which was just increased to almost 
$400 every 2 months.
  Mr. Venlet wrote to me last September to tell me what a financial 
hardship this has been for him and his wife. He said this, and I want 
to quote him:

       Considering our fixed income, we just cannot continue with 
     these increases.

  And he went on to describe their situation.
  Unfortunately, Mr. President, the Venlets are not alone. There are 
millions of senior citizens throughout the United States who are 
struggling with the high cost of prescription drugs and the premiums 
for their supplemental policies. So I think it is a vitally important 
step that President Clinton has included Medicare coverage of 
prescription drugs under his reform proposal. The medicines that people 
need to stay alive and maintain their health are a real bargain when 
you compare that with a worsening medical condition or the need for 
somebody to actually have to undergo intensive medical treatment, 
oftentimes in a hospital.
  We all know that senior citizens are just one of dozens of groups in 
our society who are struggling under our current health care system, a 
system that needs to be reformed and one that I think we can and must 
reform this year.
  So I am going to do everything I can to work with my colleagues to 
iron out and pass a reform package that will make comprehensive health 
care coverage affordable and available to every American.
  I again salute President Clinton for bringing this issue forward. He 
and his wife have made this a driving, top priority issue for this 
legislative session. I think they are right to do that. We need to go 
ahead and act on this issue so that we can help families like the 
Venlets, that I described today, in Morley, MI.
  I thank the Chair and I yield the floor.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. DeCONCINI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DeCONCINI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed as 
in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. DeCONCINI. I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. DeConcini pertaining to the introduction of S. 
1845 are located in today's Record under ``Statements on Introduced 
Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')

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