[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 134 (Thursday, September 22, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: September 22, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                       FACES OF THE HEALTH CRISIS

 Mr. RIEGLE. Mr. President, I rise today to continue my effort 
to put a face on the health care crisis. Today I would like to share 
the story of Estella Armstrong from Kalamazoo, MI.
  Estella will be 54 years old in November. She was divorced in 1972 
and since that time has tried to support herself as best she can. Her 
five children are all grown, some of them have moved far away from 
Kalamazoo, and like most Americans they struggle to make ends meet.
  Estella had worked for over 10 years at one Michigan bank as a mail 
teller until she lost her job in 1983. The bank was experiencing a 
takeover so it cut full-time employees to reduce their costs. Estella 
had to start her career over at the age of 43. Luckily, in 1984 she was 
able to get a job as a teller at another bank, where she had very 
comprehensive health insurance coverage. However, after only 1 year her 
position was transferred to Jackson, a city 2 hours from her home. 
Without savings, Estella could not afford the cost of relocating to 
follow the job. Once again she had no job and no health care.
  Although she applied for many positions, the job market for middle-
aged women like herself was small. And in 1986, while still unemployed 
and uninsured, disaster struck Estella. She was diagnosed with advanced 
colon cancer and had surgery 3 days later. The operation successfully 
removed all of the cancerous tissue. Since Estella had no insurance or 
savings, the hospital wrote off the $8,000 surgical charge, as well as 
the home nursing she needed to recover.
  After her cancer scare, Estella's doctors advised her to have a 
colonoscopy regularly, at the least every 3 years. Estella is a 
noninsulin dependent diabetic, so she also should have had her blood 
sugar checked monthly, a procedure that costs $150. But without 
coverage, she could not afford to take either of these preventive 
measures.
  Unable to find full time work, Estella began working part-time at a 
Sears department store in 1987 for $3.75 an hour. Clearly, on these low 
wages she was still not able to purchase health insurance or pay for 
care on her own.
  Then in 1988 Estella began experiencing strong stomach pains. Because 
she did not have a regular doctor, she waited several days before 
finally going to the hospital emergency room. After being told nothing 
was wrong with her, Estella went home and suffered for a week before 
rushing back to the hospital. This time she was taken into emergency 
surgery to correct a bowel obstruction. The condition was so far 
advanced that her intestines were pushed up into her stomach. Although 
her $18,000 surgery was provided by the hospital as charity care, 
Estella was still left with the $900 charge for anesthesia, which she 
continues to pay on installment.
  In 1992, she finally moved into a full time position at Sears, which 
meant that she could apply for health insurance that would be paid for 
by the company. After years without regular medical care Estella was 
eager for coverage, but the health insurance company refused to cover 
her because of her diabetes and experience with colon cancer.
  Estella now works full-time at $6 per hour. A monthly blood test to 
monitor her diabetes would take one-quarter of her paycheck, so she is 
forced to forego medical testing. Her children are not in a position to 
help her, so Estella is on her own. She tells me that if Sears paid for 
her health insurance she could afford to make the copayments that would 
be required. But she does not earn enough to purchase health insurance 
on her own.
  Estella is especially afraid for her future now that she knows she 
cannot get insurance at all because of her pre-existing conditions. For 
the past year her feet have been burning at work, so she takes aspirin 
and soaks her feet daily. She thinks it may be a result of uncontrolled 
diabetes. Her mother lost a limb and eventually died from this disease, 
and Estella is afraid that her own condition could worsen as well.
  Estella is one of the millions of people in this country who do not 
have insurance and desperately need health care. These individuals do 
not have access to preventive care and end up in hospital emergency 
rooms, facing shorter lives filled with physical and emotional 
suffering. Estella just wants the health insurance most people take for 
granted. It is for people like Estella Armstrong that we must continue 
our battle for health care reform, despite the many obstacles that we 
still face in Congress. Mr. President, it is for Estella that we need 
to pass health reform legislation.

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