[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 26 (Thursday, March 10, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 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 in my continuing 
effort to put real faces on the health care crisis confronting our 
Nation. I would like to share the story of Ronald Doran from Roseville, 
MI. Ronald was forced to file personal bankruptcy because he is unable 
to pay over $20,000 in medical bills from a recent hospital stay.
  Ronald Doran is a 57-year-old single man and has worked as an 
electrician most of his adult life. During his career, his employers, 
all of them small businesses, have not always offered health insurance 
and he has been uninsured several times. Our system today relies on 
employers to provide benefits. Since all employers today don't provide 
insurance, our system leaves employees, like Ronald, without affordable 
coverage.
  Ronald has three major blockages in his heart, a condition that has 
resulted in four heart attacks since 1979. His third attack was in 
1990, when he did not have insurance because he was between jobs and 
could not afford expensive private coverage. He was unable to pay his 
hospital bill and the hospital wrote off the costs as uncompensated 
care.
  Ronald went back to work after that attack but again became uninsured 
when his most recent employer lost a major contract and laid off Ronald 
and several other workers in 1992. He could not afford to spend his own 
money on the high premiums of the plan his employer had provided. And 
he knew he wouldn't be able to get an affordable private policy because 
of his preexisting condition. While he was working he received regular 
medical care to manage his heart condition, but since he lost his 
insurance he has not had an ongoing source of care.
  Ronald would like to go back to work but his deteriorating medical 
condition makes this impossible. Several months ago, he began receiving 
Social Security disability benefits, but will not be eligible for 
Medicare benefits for another 2 years. In the meantime, Ronald has no 
health insurance. He has used up all his savings and relies on his SSDI 
benefits of $843 a month to support himself.
  In January of this year, Ronald was experiencing severe chest pains 
and called for emergency assistance. The ambulance took him to the 
nearest hospital, where he was admitted for artery blockage--his fourth 
heart attack. Ronald knew that he didn't have the money or the 
insurance to pay for the hospital services and pleaded to be released 
immediately. Despite his requests, the hospital medical staff 
determined that his condition was far too serious for him to leave the 
hospital. They performed an angioplasty in an attempt to open a blocked 
artery.
  Ronald spent 2\1/2\ days in the hospital. His hospital and physician 
charges for the ordeal totaled over $20,000. There is no way for Ronald 
to pay these bills on his limited income of Social Security disability 
payments, so he was forced to declare personal bankruptcy.
  Ronald has worked and contributed to society for years, but at 57 
years he is still too young to receive Medicare benefits. He is going 
to continue to require followup care and medical management, without 
having any health insurance coverage to pay for it.
  Mr. President, we must enact comprehensive health care reform to 
provide a guarantee of coverage for all Americans so that people like 
Ronald Doran aren't forced into bankruptcy due to the burden of medical 
bills. When you lose your job today it means you lose your health 
insurance. And this means that people can never be sure that they will 
have coverage when they need it. We need reform so that Americans have 
the security of ongoing coverage no matter what their employment status 
or their ability to pay. We need reform so that the small businesses 
which provide coverage are not unfairly burdened because their 
competitors do not.
  Without reform, people with preexisting conditions will continue to 
deplete their savings to pay for their care, and end up going without 
critical services until they land in the emergency room. We need reform 
to make sure that people like Ronald Doran get continuing preventive 
care so that they can avoid hospitalization. And we need health care 
reform so that hospitals are not forced to charge more to their private 
patients with health insurance to cover the costs of the patients who 
simply cannot pay the bill.
  Mr. President, I will continue to work with my colleagues in the 
Senate and with the White House to make sure that health care reform is 
a reality this year.

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