[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 29 (Wednesday, March 16, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: March 16, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                    COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH CARE REFORM

  Mr. RIEGLE. Mr. President, I have on regular occasion come to the 
floor to present stories of individuals and families in Michigan who 
are facing a health care crisis of one kind or another to illustrate 
how serious the problems are in this area that face people and why we 
need comprehensive health care reform.
  Today, I want to share the story of Ralph and Lennell Tucker who live 
in Detroit, MI. In March last year, the family was forced to drop their 
private health care coverage policy because the monthly premium 
increased by 50 percent. It went from $530 a month to over $800 a month 
for family coverage.
  Now, Ralph Tucker is 50 years old and a former employee of the 
Mercury Paint Co. in Detroit. In 1991, he was diagnosed with kidney 
failure and was forced to leave his job because of his disability. He 
did not qualify for retirement benefits so he did not receive retiree 
health coverage. The Tuckers were covered under Ralph's health policy 
while he was working. When he left the job, they maintained the policy 
by paying the premiums themselves at the cost of which I noted, $530 a 
month, which is a heck of a large bill to have to pay each month.
  When a person leaves a job that offers health insurance, Federal law 
now requires the health insurance company to offer the employee the 
same insurance rates that the business paid, but only for a limited 
period of time. When that period ended last year, the insurance company 
raised the rates they charged the Tuckers to the $800 figure for each 
month. Now, that is half of their entire monthly income, and so as 
everyone would understand, the Tuckers just were not able to afford to 
spend half their income to maintain that health insurance coverage, and 
so they had to discontinue their coverage.
  Now, Ralph does receive Social Security disability benefits and 
Medicare coverage because of his kidney condition. Unfortunately, the 
Medicare benefit does not cover the entire cost of his dialysis 
treatments, nor does it cover the cost of prescription drugs.
  Ralph's wife, Lennell, is 48 years old and also suffers from 
disabling conditions that prevent her from working. In 1985, she was 
working in a nursing home as a nurse's assistant when she suffered a 
stroke. Her employer did not offer health insurance, but then she was 
covered under her husband's policy. Lennell tried to go back to work, 
but her condition only worsened. In addition to having a stroke, she 
suffers from hypertension and rheumatoid arthritis and needs medication 
to control her conditions.
  Lennell and Frank have a 16-year-old son named Ricardo. He is 
dependent upon his parents for support. Ricardo is healthy but his 
parents do worry that if anything were to happen to him, they would not 
be able to pay for his care. So in this case the mother and the son do 
not have any health insurance coverage at all, and Ralph is forced to 
rely on his Medicare coverage, which obviously does not do the job.
  The Tucker family is trying to do the best they can to cover their 
medical and other costs of living, but it is extremely difficult to 
survive on the small Social Security check that Ralph receives each 
month. The family's total monthly income is $1,625. Because they no 
longer have prescription drug coverage to help with the cost of their 
medicines, the Tuckers often ration their medications to try to make 
them last longer. If they took the full dosages that their doctors want 
them to take, their medications alone would cost $800 to $1,000 a 
month, more than half their income.
  So you can see in this situation, if they tried to continue their 
health insurance coverage at $800 a month, pay the $800 a month in 
addition for the medicines they need, that is their entire monthly 
income without putting one piece of bread on the table, paying any 
utility bills, buying any clothes, or any of the necessities of life we 
all face.
  For a few months, they struggled to try to pay as much as $500 a 
month for medications they needed as a family. But in addition to drug 
costs, each month the Tuckers have a balance of $300 they must pay to 
the dialysis facility in order to get the treatment Ralph needs just to 
stay alive. Because they could not afford to continue to spend a total 
of $800 a month, or half their income, on both medication and the 
kidney dialysis, they have had to, again, cut their medication use and 
now they are spending $575 a month on just medicines alone, or fully 35 
percent of their income.
  Lennell delays going to her physician because of the cost of the 
visits and tries to manage her high blood pressure by monitoring it at 
home. She regularly asks her physician to send her medication samples 
because she cannot afford to properly fill the prescriptions she needs.
  I say, Mr. President, the Tuckers and all Americans deserve the 
security of guaranteed, affordable health care coverage that will meet 
their basic health needs. Both Ralph and Lennell were hard workers and 
were forced to leave their jobs because of devastating, and now 
chronic, medical problems. They do not want these medical problems, but 
life brings these things our way and that has happened to them and 
countless other millions across the country.
  Because our current health care system does not guarantee everyone 
health care coverage at a price they can afford, this family is 
suffering each day without the proper care and treatment that they 
need. It is not right in America today, not for the Tuckers or anybody 
else, to be in that situation.
  We need health care reform to make sure no family has to forgo and be 
without the medical treatment they need because they are either too 
sick to be able to work in order to earn the income to pay the bill, or 
because they do not have any other means to get the insurance or the 
medicines they need to try to maintain their health as best they can.
  So we very much need national health care reform. I am proud that the 
President has taken the lead on this issue, to take the issue to the 
country and to try to force change into place, change that is clearly 
needed for families like this. This story could be any family story 
depending upon the circumstances that might strike a given family.
  I am confident that we can work this problem through if we decide it 
is important enough for the people of America. They want us to do it. 
They are asking us to do it. It is one of the reasons they elected a 
new President a year ago--to put us into a position to be able to have 
major health care reform to provide affordable health care coverage to 
our people, and with it, the medicines people need to maintain their 
health and well-being.
  Mr. President, I yield the remainder of my time and suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

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