[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 136 (Friday, October 3, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Page S10318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MICHAEL GUTOWSKI

  Mr. JEFFORDS. Mr. President, I want to take a moment to remark on the 
passing of a valued friend of the U.S. Senate, Michael Gutowski, a 
specialist in private health insurance issues at the General Accounting 
Office. Michael died suddenly and unexpectedly on September 23 at the 
age of 53. He was stricken during a meeting with Labor Department 
officials while gathering information for a report on the 
implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability 
Act that I requested.
  Over the past 10 years, Michael directed a remarkable series of 
studies, almost 50 in all. Many focused on gaps in private health 
insurance coverage, gaps that make affordable coverage under reasonable 
terms unavailable to many groups and individuals. Michael's reports 
were remarkable in a number of ways. First, they succeeded in keeping 
the Congress up-to-date on the evolution of the private health 
insurance market. Second, the reports, while based on thorough and 
often innovative data collection techniques, were not just a tabulation 
of statistics. Michael had a remarkable gift for weaving data into a 
clear and articulate story, one that was immediately comprehensible and 
compelling.
  During my tenure as chairman, the reports, testimony, and briefings 
Michael developed for the Labor and Human Resources Committee have 
consistently informed our deliberations on health care policy. We have 
benefited from the research he led regarding employer strategies in 
purchasing health insurance, children's health insurance, the role of 
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and State insurance 
regulation, and the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability 
and Accountability Act of 1996. In all these areas, he drew on his wide 
knowledge of the real world insurance marketplace. I know that his 
contribution to other congressional committees and Members on a diverse 
range of housing, health policy, economic, and workers compensation 
issues both at GAO and the Congressional Budget Office have been 
equally valued. In 1995, Michael received the Assistant Comptroller 
General's award for studies related to health care reform.
  Michael was an economist by training but a humanitarian by heart, 
warn and generous with an unquenchable sense of humor. Michael was very 
devoted to his wife Lois, and his children Laura and David. In 
extending condolences to his family, I want them and his colleagues at 
the General Accounting Office to know that we, too, in the Senate will 
miss him.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a list of GAO reports by 
Michael Gutowski be placed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the list was ordered to be printed in the 
Record, as follows:

                  Reports Directed by Michael Gutowski

       Private Health Insurance: Continued Erosion of Coverage 
     Linked to Cost Pressures (July 1997).
       Retiree Health Insurance: Erosion in Employer-Based Health 
     Benefits for Early Retirees (July 1997).
       Health Insurance: Management Strategies Used by Large 
     Employers to Control Costs (May 1997).
       Medicare HMO Enrollment: Area Differences Affected by 
     Factors Other Than Payment Rates (May 1997).
       Uninsured Children: Estimates of Citizenship and 
     Immigration Status, 1995 (May 1997).
       Employment-Based Health Insurance: Costs Increase and 
     Family Coverage Decreases (Feb. 1997).
       Children's Health Insurance, 1995 (Feb. 1997).
       Children's Health Insurance Programs, 1996 (Dec. 1996).
       Private Health Insurance: Millions Relying on Individual 
     Market Face Cost and Coverage Trade-Offs (Nov. 1996).
       Health Insurance Regulation: Varying State Requirements 
     Affect Cost of Insurance (Aug. 1996).
       Medicaid and Uninsured Children, 1994 (July 1996).
       Health Insurance for Children: Private Insurance Coverage 
     Continues to Deteriorate (June 1996).
       Medicare HMOs: Rapid Enrollment Growth Concentrated in 
     Selected States (Jan. 1996).
       Medicaid Section 1115 Waivers: Flexible Approach to 
     Approving Demonstrations Could Increase Federal Costs (Nov. 
     1995).
       Health Insurance Portability: Reform Could Ensure Continued 
     Coverage for up to 25 Million Americans (Sept. 1995).
       Employer-Based Health Plans: Issues, Trends, and Challenges 
     Posed by ERISA (July 1995).
       Health Insurance Regulation: Variation in Recent State 
     Small Employer Health Insurance Reforms (June 1995).
       German Health Reforms: Changes Result in Lower Health Costs 
     in 1993 (Dec. 1994).
       Medicaid Long-Term Care: Successful State Efforts to Expand 
     Services While Limiting Costs (Aug. 1994).
       Access to Health Insurance: Public and Private Employers' 
     Experience with Purchasing Cooperatives (May 1994).
       Health Care Alliances: Issues Relating to Geographic 
     Boundaries (April 1994).
       Health Insurance: California Public Employees' Alliance Has 
     Reduced Recent Premium Growth (Nov. 1993).
       Managed Health Care: Effect on Employers' Costs Difficult 
     to Measure (Oct. 1993).
       German Health Reforms: New Cost Control Initiatives (July 
     1993).
       Medicaid Estate Planning (July 1993).
       Health Care: Rochester's Community Approach Yields Better 
     Access, Lower Costs (Jan. 1993).
       Emergency Departments: Unevenly Affected by Growth and 
     Change in Patient Use (Jan. 1993).
       Employer-Based Health Insurance: High Costs, Wide Variation 
     Threaten System (Sept. 1992).
       Access to Health Care: States Respond to Growing Crisis 
     (June 1992).
       Access to Health Insurance: State Efforts to Assist Small 
     Businesses (May 1992).
       Canadian Health Insurance: Estimating Costs and Savings for 
     the United States (Apr. 1992).
       Health Care Spending: Nonpolicy Factors Account for Most of 
     State Differences (Feb. 1992).
       Health Insurance: Problems Caused by a Segmented Market 
     (July 1991).
       Long-Term Care: Projected Needs of the Aging Baby Boom 
     Generation (June 1991).
       Canadian Health Insurance: Lessons for the United States 
     (June 1991).
       AIDS-Prevention Programs: High-Risk Groups Still Prove Hard 
     to Reach (May 1991).
       Trauma Care: Lifesaving System Threatened by Unreimbursed 
     Costs and Other Factors (May 1991).
       Health Insurance Coverage: A Profile of the Uninsured in 
     Selected States (Feb. 1991).
       Budget Issues: Effects of the Fiscal Year 1990 Sequester on 
     the Department of Health and Human Services (Aug. 1990).
       Health Insurance: Cost Increases Lead to Coverage 
     Limitations and Cost Shifting (May 1990).
       Health Insurance: A Profile of the Uninsured in Michigan 
     and the United States (May 1990).
       AIDS Education: Public School Programs Require More Student 
     Information and Teacher Training (May 1990).
       AIDS Education: Programs for Out-of-School Youth Slowly 
     Evolving (May 1990).
       In-Home Services for the Elderly: Cost Sharing Expands 
     Range of Services Provided and Population Served (Oct. 1989).
       U.S. Employees Health Benefits: Rebate for Duplicate 
     Medicare Coverage (March 1989).

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