[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 83 (Monday, June 14, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1241]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


  MASSACHUSETTS SENIOR ACTION COUNCIL DOCUMENTS HARM DONE BY MEDICARE 
                                  CUTS

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                           HON. BARNEY FRANK

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 14, 1999

  Mr. FRANK of Massachusetts. Mr. Speaker, during the Congressional 
recess, I spent a very useful two hours at the University of 
Massachusetts-Dartmouth meeting with a large number of older people at 
a rally called by the Massachusetts Senior Action Council. One of the 
very impressive aspects of that rally was a series of short, poignant 
examples given by members of the Council of the terrible harm that is 
being done by the cut backs in Medicare that we are now inflicting on 
older people, most of which are a direct result of the terribly 
mistaken legislation adopted by Congress and signed by the President in 
1997.
  Younger people reading this might not be aware of a central fact: as 
currently constituted, Medicare includes no payment for prescription 
drugs. We in Massachusetts used to have a law which required that HMOs 
provide prescription drugs, but that was crudely abolished by the 1997 
so-called Balanced Budget Act as part of the effort to cut Medicare to 
make funds available for other purposes. And that bill also required 
for the same reason severe cut backs in home health care. I ask that 
these examples of the terrible damage that is being done by the 1997 
Act be printed here, in the hopes that it will influence our colleagues 
to join those of us who are seeking to undo the grave error Congress 
made in 1997 in cutting Medicare.

 Testimony given at the Mass. Senior Action Council Rally to Preserve 
         and Protect Medicare and Social Security, June 1, 1999

       Armando and Alexandria Demelo live in Fairhaven. They are 
     75 and 78 years old. They both have life threatening medical 
     conditions. Their prescription drug costs are currently 
     $6,000 per year.
       William Kirby lives in East Wareham. He is 83 years old. He 
     has emphysema. His prescription drug costs are over $800 per 
     month.
       Arthur and Mary Travassos live in Fall River. They both 
     have serious health problems and Arthur is currently in the 
     hospital. They were lucky enough to be able to switch out of 
     their HMO in time to another plan which is now closed. 
     Between the two of them they pay over $7,000 yearly in 
     prescription drug costs.
       Del Silvia worked as a stitcher in the Fall River mills for 
     37 years. She is 63 years old. She is on nine prescription 
     drug medications in order to keep her lungs functioning. 
     Before Del got out of her Medicare HMO she had over $10,000 
     in prescription drug costs per year.
       An 84 year old Portuguese woman who lives in New Bedford 
     was admitted to the hospital in the middle of the night with 
     severe cramping in her abdomen. Thank God she did not have a 
     serious obstruction. Her HMO denied payment for her care in 
     the hospital.
       An 85 year old woman from Southeastern Mass. was discharged 
     from the hospital after an operation for colon cancer. She 
     had been in the hospital a full month. She was approved by 
     Medicare for only 4 home health visits.
       A 73 year old woman from Fall River returned from the 
     hospital after knee surgery. She was denied home health 
     services by her HMO.
       Loretta Lamond from New Bedford passed away last year. She 
     was 85 years old. She was diabetic and blind and could not 
     fill her own insulin needles. Medicare cut off her nurse who 
     came to the house to assist her with the needles.
       These are only a few of the countless stories we hear every 
     day. The sickest and most vulnerable--those who can not 
     always speak for themselves are hit the hardest.
       Something must be done!

       

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