[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 20 (Tuesday, February 29, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E200]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   ONLY SON KILLED: $50,000 HOSPITAL BILL AWAITS FAMILY WITH $30,000 
                                 INCOME

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                        HON. FORTNEY PETE STARK

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, February 29, 2000

  Mr. STARK. Mr. Speaker, of all the unspeakable sadness in the world, 
losing one's child has to be the greatest.
  But in America, we often compound the pain with family bankruptcy.
  The following article by Dennis Rockstroh from the San Jose Mercury 
of February 18, 2000 describes how ``tragedy hits family doubly hard,' 
in the case of the death of Eleazer Gamez, Jr.
  What is wrong with us? Why can't we find in this time of wealth and 
prosperity a way to provide all our residents with health insurance and 
to remove at least the financial disaster of medical care. The goal of 
universal coverage should be the highest priority of this Congress-and 
every Congress until all Americans have health care that is as good as 
we in Congress have.
  I submit the aforementioned article for the Record.

                 [From the Mercury News, Feb. 18, 2000]

  Tragedy Hits Family Doubly Hard--Lack of Insurance Adds to Family's 
                       Pain in Loss of Only Child

                         (By Dennis Rockstrob)

       Shame on us. Forty-four million Americans, 11 million of 
     them children, have no medical insurance.
       Californians list it as a top priority right behind 
     education, but to Carolina and Eleazer Gamez of Union City, 
     the lack of health insurance was simply piled on anguish 
     following the tragic death of their first and only child.
       They haven't got the hospital bill yet, but they estimate 
     it will be countless thousands of dollars they do not have.
       They paid the funeral expenses with an aunt's credit card.
       Twenty-month-old Eleazer Jr. was crushed between two cars 
     about 3 p.m. on Feb. 4.
       Eleazer's mom was taking him to her sister's house on 11th 
     Street. He was in the care of an aunt in the back seat. As 
     the aunt was getting out, she put the baby on the ground and 
     then reached back into the car to get her purse.
       The Gamez car was partially blocking a driveway and, in an 
     instant, a car in the driveway zoomed out backward, striking 
     the baby and smashing his head into the door.
       Eleazer died in a hospital the next day.
       ``Paramedics took the child to Children's Hospital in 
     Oakland for emergency surgery,'' another of the boy's aunts, 
     Shirley Baker, told me. ``But the trauma to the child was too 
     great.''
       Salvador Mora, Carolina's brother and the spokesman for the 
     family, said that his sister had just moved off welfare and 
     was applying for health insurance from her husband's work.
       Said Baker: ``What makes this story so sad is that my 
     counsin and her husband are about 20 years old. They are a 
     newlywed couple trying to start a family. They were not 
     prepared for this tragedy and had no money to bury their 
     son.''
       From family experience I can tell you that there is no 
     grief to compare with the loss of a child. It is a lifelong 
     sorrow.
       Mora said the boy's dad is in denial and sleeps a lot, 
     hoping he will wake from this terrible nightmare.
       The boy's mom speaks mostly in monosyllables, but managed 
     to tell me, ``We can use all the help we can get.''
       ``We're emotionally drained right now,'' said Mora. ``We're 
     overwhelmed with everything. My sister and her husband are 
     taking this very, very hard. He's never experienced a loss in 
     his family.''
       Mora said the family is expecting a bill of about $50,000, 
     dwarfing the combined annual family income of about $30,000.
       This is not an isolated case.
       It's a national scandal.
       Despite the best economy in 30 years, 44 percent of 
     California respondents in the Field Poll released this week 
     said they have gone without health insurance or have been 
     financially responsible for someone without insurance in the 
     past two years.
       According to researchers, about one-quarter of California 
     adults have no insurance.
       The politicians have known of this state and national 
     problem for years but failed to fix it.
       Make no mistake, the Gamez family is a national victim of a 
     system that excludes 44 million Americans. That's a lot of 
     suffering.
       There oughta be a law. In fact, the Field Poll found that 
     45 percent of those surveyed, regardless of political 
     affiliation, ranked health care as an important issue, just 
     behind education.
       Meanwhile the Carolina and Eleazer Gamezes of the world 
     will fall through the cracks, an American tragedy that can be 
     avoided.
       Besides pushing for adequate medical care for all 
     Americans, there is something you can do to help the family.
       A trust fund has been set up to pay the hospital and 
     funeral bills.
       Donations can be sent to the memorial trust fund: Eleazer 
     Gamez Jr., Account No. xxxxxxxxxxxx, Washington Mutual, 39995 
     Paso Padre Parkway, Fremont 92538.
       Oh, and don't forget to vote.

       

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