[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 75 (Wednesday, June 8, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1164]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      NEED FOR NATIONAL HEALTHCARE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 8, 2005

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, May 21, I had the honor of 
chairing a citizens hearing on the need for national health care which 
took place in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. I heard testimony from citizens 
from a wide variety of backgrounds including labor, elected officials, 
seniors, youth, and physicians and health care workers. What I heard 
powerfully demonstrates the need for fundamental changes in how America 
takes care of its people. The hearing clearly showed that the time is 
long overdue to bring our health care system up to the same standards 
that other industrialized countries have enjoyed for years. I wish to 
share some of the testimony I received with my colleagues.

       Carol McMann, a retiree and an active member of the 
     Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR) Chapter 
     2020:
       ``I am disappointed and frustrated about the way our health 
     care system is going in the United States. A lot of people do 
     not want national health care, but when you get in my 
     situation it would be appreciated!''
       ``When LTV Steel liquidated and took my health insurance in 
     the year 2002, it totally left me out in the cold.''
       ``I had two choices for health care and the expensive one 
     was the one that I had to take because I needed a 
     prescription drug program. I had to purchase individual 
     health care from Highmark Blue Shield/Blue Cross. If I chose 
     an HMO and was accepted, then I had a year that I would not 
     be covered for pre-existing conditions.''
       ``This individual policy costs me $411.95 a month with a 
     $1,000 deductible. It increases each year in September. Who 
     knows what the total will be in two more years! My husband 
     and I figured out our total cost for health care each year, 
     including prescription drugs, and it came out to more than 
     $10,000. It takes all of my social security just to pay the 
     premium alone. I am a homemaker!''
       ``At the end of the month, we have to watch because if our 
     fixed income is gone, we must use our savings again and 
     again. We fear it may be gone in the future. To wind this 
     down, we no longer vacation, go on shopping sprees, buy our 
     sons much, or enjoy life as before. It has depressed us at 
     times and causes us to feel as though my husband worked for 
     absolutely no reason! He served in the Army and also the 
     Reserves. Our health care just meant everything to us in our 
     retirement. Just everything!
       ``We feel this administration and other elected leaders 
     will not fix this problem. Everyone in this country now is 
     just expected to take care of themselves.''
       Mike Sabat, an unemployed Anchor Hocking worker whose son 
     Mikey suffers from autism:
       ``Whatever happened to the American dream of hard work at a 
     good job with medical benefits? Now we have to ask employers 
     what kind of medical insurance they offer, how much it costs, 
     and then deal with an endless assortment of HMOs, PPOs, and 
     managed care and third-party administrators. And don't forget 
     the eye care, dental, orthotics, and mental health coverage. 
     It seems like we have been working all our lives just for our 
     medical benefits!''
       ``I am laid-off again at the present time, however, a union 
     contract saved my medical insurance for four months.''
       ``In a country so rich, no one should have to go without 
     food, water, clothing, shelter, quality education, and 
     especially health care!''
       ``People should not be in debt, as I am, over their medical 
     insurance or bills!''
       ``Those commercials about insurance fraud kill me. I think 
     when you have insurance and you go to the doctor or hospital 
     thinking you are covered then you get a large bill, that's 
     the real insurance fraud!''
       Ian Thompson, a recent graduate of Penn State University 
     who will soon be losing his health coverage:
       ``Simply put, to say that the current health care system is 
     failing to meet the needs of America's young adults is at 
     best a gross understatement. While young people between the 
     ages of 19 to 29 account for a mere 15 percent of the U.S. 
     population, they are disproportionately represented among the 
     roughly 45 million Americans who currently lack health 
     insurance, accounting for roughly 30 percent according to 
     recent census figures. These findings have shown that young 
     people account for the highest percentage of uninsured 
     Americans.''
       ``Nineteen to 29 year olds represent one of the biggest and 
     fastest growing segments of the population living day to day 
     without health insurance, yet individuals in this age group 
     rarely appear in the national debate on health insurance.''
       ``It probably comes as no surprise that one of the largest 
     barriers for young adults in seeking health insurance 
     coverage is cost. In many instances, the price of coverage 
     simply rises faster than incomes, making it especially 
     difficult for younger people to obtain coverage.
       ``For many younger people, the consequences of going 
     without health insurance don't seem as immediate as cutting 
     back on grocery bills, losing car insurance, or missing a 
     rent or mortgage payment. So they decide to take a chance--a 
     calculated risk that they won't face a serious and costly 
     health crisis--and forgo health coverage for months and often 
     years at a time. Sadly, for many this proves to be a 
     devastating gamble. When catastrophes hit the uninsured, as 
     they can and do to individuals in every age group, many are 
     left completely buried in massive amounts of debt, unable to 
     afford even basic medical necessities.
       ``With the numbers of uninsured Americans steadily 
     increasing, today's young people face the sad prospect of 
     being sicker and less econeconomicallyductive over the course 
     of their lives. Amid a soft job market and ever increasing 
     insurance costs, many experts fear that more and more young 
     adults will forgo medical care altogether. Research has in 
     fact shown that it is a common practice among uninsured young 
     people to go to a doctor less often and later into an 
     illness, often ending up with so many other countless 
     uninsured Americans in hospital emergency rooms for 
     conditions that easily could have been treated at an earlier 
     time.
       Those who argue that younger adults are an age group that 
     does not have the same health needs as other segments of the 
     population simply have not been paying attention to the 
     facts. Younger adults have the highest number of annual 
     visits to emergency rooms each year (usually from injuries). 
     They account for a third of new HIV diagnoses. And nearly 
     four million pregnancies occur in women in their 20s every 
     year. The results of a lack of insurance for young people are 
     truly shocking and should act as a wake-up call to the 
     consciences of Americans from across the political spectrum. 
     The Institute of Medicine estimates that 18,000 young adults 
     die each year because they lack health insurance to cover 
     their problems. Additionally, uninsured adults are 25 percent 
     more likely to die prematurely than those with private health 
     insurance coverage.
       ``There is something inherently perverted and fundamentally 
     flawed with a health care system that prides itself as being 
     the best and most advanced in the world while at the same 
     time allowing 18,000 young people to die each and every year 
     from illnesses and diseases that in many cases could be 
     avoided with simple preventive treatment.
       ``The time is long overdue to change our outrageously 
     costly and grossly inefficient health care system to one that 
     meets the basic needs of the American public in terms of 
     gaining universal, efficient, available, and affordable 
     access to the highest quality health care. H.R. 676, the U.S. 
     National Health Insurance Act goes a long way towards 
     accomplishing this very goal. This legislation would improve 
     and expand upon what older Americans already receive through 
     the very successful Medicare program to include all U.S. 
     residents. To say it is needed is an understatement. The 
     current for-profit system of health care must be replaced 
     with one that puts the interests of people first.''

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