[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 45 (Thursday, April 21, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 21, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                          REHABILITATION WORKS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Alabama [Mr. Bachus] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BACHUS of Alabama. Madam Speaker, on February 8, I introduced 
House Joint Resolution 319, which now has over 16 cosponsors and which 
requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to report to 
Congress on the impending insolvency of the Social Security Disability 
Insurance Trust Fund.
  The Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund was created to 
provide financial support for those who are physically unable to work, 
but over the years, the purpose of the disability fund has been 
distorted and its good intentions have been abused. This abuse has not 
only caused the money in the disability fund to run out, but it now 
threatens the solvency of this Nation's Social Security Old Age and 
Survivors Trust Fund which provides financial security to all senior 
citizens.
  The Clinton administration has proposed shifting billions of dollars 
out of Social Security's old age fund and into the disability fund. I 
say that's no solution. We need a complete re-evaluation of the 
criteria used to determine whether a person is truly disabled, and we 
need a clearly defined method of re-examination that will allow us to 
remove people who are no longer disabled from the Social Security rolls 
and get them back to work.
  We also ought to be able to take advantage of medical advances and 
rehabilitation in order to increase the opportunities for disabled 
citizens to re-enter the work force and at the same time reduce the 
number of disability insurance payments.
  Recently, I toured a facility in Birmingham, AL which proves that 
rehabilitation works.
  Sixteen year old Jay Marcum was terribly burned and brain injured in 
a car wreck. Four months later, his physical therapist, Ms. Beth 
Dozier, made these observations: ``He was crumbled up, burned, and 
nonresponsive. He couldn't talk. He would just yell out.''
  Some physical therapists might have given up, but Beth didn't. And 
other therapists working with her didn't either.
  Thanks to the good work of therapists at ReLife Rehabilitation 
Hospital in Birmingham AL, Jay is now driving, speaking, and working 
again.
  Jay's rehab bill was nearly $200,000, but considering the 
alternative, millions of dollars in nursing home care and disability 
payments, this was quite reasonable. Furthermore, if you multiply that 
$200,000 by the 90,000 traumatic brain injury survivors who suffer 
extreme debilitation each year, the cost and expense of nursing home 
care and disability payments would far exceed the cost and expense of 
rehabilitation. With rehab, at least 50 percent can be functional 
again.
  As Jay's mom says, ``Without hospitalized rehab, I believe Jay would 
be curled up in a ball in a nursing home bed somewhere.''
  In conclusion, Madam Speaker, as we debate health care reform 
proposals and consider ways to reform the disability insurance system, 
we need to look at rehabilitation as a cost-effective and sound way to 
invest our money--and, as demonstrated in Jay Marcum's case, a far more 
humane and compassionate approach.

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