[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 75 (Thursday, June 11, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1122]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


     POVERTY EQUALS DEATH: NOT THE HEALTH POLICY OF A MORAL NATION

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                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 11, 1998

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, as we seek to improve our health care system, 
it is important to include the concerns of all of our citizens--
especially those in less fortunate financial circumstances. A recent 
study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 
low-income citizens ``have a death rate as much as three times higher 
than that of other groups.''
  The study found that, ``Americans with income below $10,000 a year 
had a death rate of 3.22 times that of people making $30,000 or more.'' 
Even after taking into account the riskier health behavior that is 
often attributed to the poor, ``the death rate among the poor was still 
2.77 times higher.'' This clearly shows that many Americans are dying 
early simply because they are poor. A policy that results in the less 
fortunate dying for no other reason than their financial status cannot 
possibly be one that is working to the best interest of the American 
people.
  One thing we can do to improve this unfortunate situations is to 
provide better access to health care for the underprivileged. Tom 
Burke, a specialist in risk sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of 
Public Health, said: ``A big part of being poor is lack of access to 
medical care or perhaps not feeling culturally comfortable with the 
medical care providers, so things that are little health problems 
become bigger health problems, and you have people presenting 
themselves at a much more advanced state of disease.''
  We can prevent many early deaths simply by treating health problems 
in the early stages. To do this we need to ensure that our health care 
system is accessible to all Americans irrespective of financial status.
  It is also important to remember that this situation carries far-
reaching psychological implications. Children learn from their parents. 
And what will low-income children learn from their parents? They will 
learn, ``that the world is frightening and hostile place.'' Attitudes 
like these contribute to stress, poor choices, and early death. We 
cannot allow our health system to be ignorant of the needs of the 
economically disadvantaged.




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