[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 50 (Wednesday, April 29, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S3749]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I come to speak in morning business on an 
issue that I believe is of great importance to many families across the 
United States. It is the question of health care.
  Many people watch the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and 
wonder what this debate in the operations of this body have to do with 
their lives. They look at the bills and wonder who has written them and 
how it can affect them, and many times just write it all off as 
politics. But the issue I am about to speak to and the issue which I 
believe should be part of our legislative agenda is the issue of health 
care.
  Mr. President, we are in a state of crisis in this country, a crisis 
of confidence over America's health care system. A majority of the 
American people no longer believe their insurance companies are 
providing them with the quality of service or choice of doctors they 
were promised when they paid their premiums. Eighty percent of American 
consumers believe that insurance plans often compromise the quality of 
care to save money. Ninety percent of Americans say a patient 
protection act to regulate health insurance plans is needed. Such an 
act has been introduced, and we are hoping that we can bring it to the 
floor for consideration before we adjourn, because we have precious few 
days left this year to consider important legislation.
  Unfortunately in America some health insurers have put cost savings 
before life savings. Such cost-cutting practices are only inviting 
tragedy.
  I brought to the floor today a photograph of a couple from the 
Chicago area, the Garvey family. I would like to tell you the story of 
this typical American family and what happened to Mrs. Garvey on a 
vacation to Hawaii. Barbara Garvey, a wife and mother of seven from 
Chicago, suffered from severe arthritis. During a once-in-a-lifetime 
vacation with friends to Hawaii, Mrs. Garvey discovered some bruises on 
her body. She was worried. She was immediately sent to the hospital and 
examined. After examination, there was a diagnosis that she was 
suffering from aplastic anemia.
  There she was in Hawaii, thousands of miles from home, with a friend, 
with this terrible diagnosis. Doctors in Hawaii decided the only option 
was to perform an emergency bone-marrow transplant. Both Mrs. Garvey's 
HMO doctor in Chicago and the attending physician in Hawaii agreed that 
with no immune system and no ability to clot, a commercial flight back 
home to Chicago to receive treatment would put her at great risk for 
infection and stroke.
  Imagine, there you are, thousands of miles away from home, told that 
you have to face this emergency bone-marrow transplant and you can't 
move; you have to do it now. And if you do not, you could have serious 
consequences.
  They advised Mrs. Garvey to receive this emergency treatment as 
quickly as possible in Hawaii. Her insurance policy covered it. It 
wasn't a matter of debating that. But when she called the HMO that 
managed the policy, they refused to accept any treatment in Hawaii. The 
clerk at the HMO said to Mrs. Garvey she had to travel back from Hawaii 
to Illinois for this treatment. They wouldn't pay for it unless she 
did. And it is very expensive. She didn't have the ability to pay for 
the expensive treatment.
  So she made the only decision she could. She got back on the airplane 
to come back to Chicago. On the plane, as predicted by her treating 
physician, Mrs. Garvey suffered a stroke that left her paralyzed on her 
right side, robbing her of her ability to speak. She was left too weak 
and unstable to even undergo the bone-marrow transplant. She developed 
an infection and after 9 days at a Chicago Hospital, Barbara Garvey 
died of a cerebral hemorrhage and complications.
  She was 55 years old, on a Hawaiian vacation, in need of emergency 
medical treatment, but the decision by an HMO clerk cost her her life. 
She left behind her husband Dave, seven children, and numerous 
grandchildren.
  I might say to my colleagues in the Senate and those listening, this 
should not happen in America. Health insurers should not make decisions 
that are best left to doctors and trained health professionals.
  Mr. President, we should take up and pass meaningful patient 
protection this year in Congress. We have a bill, S. 1890, the 
patient's bill of rights, that would prevent tragedies like this from 
happening. The bill would allow for both an independent appeals process 
and for legal accountability for medical decisions made by health 
insurers. Without such accountability, insurers have no incentive to 
provide necessary and timely care to people such as Barbara Garvey when 
they need it the most.
  It may surprise some people to learn that many HMO plans across the 
country, if your doctor says he wants you to receive treatment, require 
you to call the insurance company. If the insurance company says no, 
no, we don't cover that treatment or we won't give it the way the 
doctor wants it, and you go ahead and follow the insurance company's 
lead and something bad occurs, guess who is held accountable. Guess who 
is liable in court. The insurance company? In many instances, no. The 
doctor, the doctor who really wanted to do it differently, who thought 
it was best for you and your family to receive a different treatment, 
ends up the person holding the bag.
  That is not fair. We should each be accountable for our conduct, and 
in this situation no doctor should be held accountable for a decision 
that was made by the insurance company. The insurance company should 
stand on its own feet.

  Now, we only have a few days remaining in the session. It is hard to 
believe that in April we are talking about leaving, but it is going to 
be an abbreviated session for reasons that are beyond me. The political 
leaders have decided it is time for us to get out of town. They think 
we have about 60 days to act and don't have much time to consider many 
issues. I hope that we don't leave town without thinking a little bit 
about this issue, an issue which most Americans are seriously concerned 
about, the quality of health care and the accountability of HMO's. 
Whatever we are going to do will not alleviate the pain the Garveys 
have endured, but we can fix the system. We can save families the pain 
of losing a loved one because some insurance companies put business 
before wellness.
  Mr. President, I yield back the remainder of my time.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in morning 
business for up to 15 minutes.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I commend our colleague from Illinois, Mr. 
Durbin, for standing up for the rights of patients in health 
maintenance organizations. This is an issue of enormous importance, and 
I think it is clear the Senate ought to be spending time talking about 
how real patients are suffering as they try to make their way through 
the health care system. I wish to tell the Senator that I very much 
appreciate his addressing this issue today.

                          ____________________