[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 132 (Thursday, September 17, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H9706-H9707]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              HEALTH CARE

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida (Mr. Grayson) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, every once in a while, I read something 
that makes me wish I had written it or said it. I had that experience 
recently, reading Nick Kristof's column in The New York Times. It's 
just like Abraham Lincoln said during the Gettysburg Address, I read 
something like this and I say, This is far beyond my poor power to add 
or detract. So I would like to read it to you, I would like to share it 
with you and the other Members of the House because it so well captures 
what's important in the current health care debate.
  He wrote as follows:
  In the debate over health care, here's an inequity to ponder: Nikki 
White would have been far better off if only she had been a convicted 
bank robber. Nikki was a slim and athletic college graduate who had 
health insurance, had worked in health care and knew the system. But 
she had systemic lupus erythematosus, a chronic inflammatory disease 
that was diagnosed when she was 21 and gradually left her too sick to 
work. And once she lost her job, she lost her health insurance.
  In any other rich country, Nikki probably would have been fine, notes 
T.R. Reid in his important and powerful new book, ``The Healing of 
America.'' Some 80 percent of lupus patients in the United States live 
a normal life span. Under a doctor's care, lupus should be manageable. 
Indeed, if Nikki had been a felon, the problem could have been averted, 
because the courts have ruled that prisoners are entitled to medical 
care.
  As Mr. Reid recounts, Nikki tried everything to get medical care, but 
no insurance company would accept someone with her preexisting 
condition. She spent months painfully writing letters to anyone she 
thought might be able to help. She fought tenaciously for her life.
  Finally, Nikki collapsed at her home in Tennessee and was rushed to a 
hospital emergency room, which was then required to treat her without 
payment until her condition stabilized. Since money was no longer an 
issue, the hospital performed 25 emergency surgeries on Nikki, and she 
spent 6 months in critical care.
  ``When Nikki showed up at the emergency room, she received the best 
of care, and the hospital spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on 
her,'' her stepfather, Tony Deal, told me. ``But that's not when she 
needed the care.''
  By then it was too late. In 2006, Nikki White died at age 32. ``Nikki 
didn't die from lupus,'' her doctor, Amylyn Crawford, told Mr. Reid. 
``Nikki died from complications of the failing American health care 
system.''
  ``She fell through the cracks,'' Nikki's mother, Gail Deal, told me 
grimly. ``When you bury a child, it's the worst thing in the world. You 
never recover.''
  We now have a chance to reform this cruel and capricious system. If 
we let that chance slip away, there will be another Nikki dying every 
half-hour.
  That's how often someone dies in America because of a lack of 
insurance, according to a study by a branch of the National Academy of 
Sciences. Over a year, that amounts to 18,000 American deaths.
  After al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 Americans 8 years ago on Friday, 
we went to war and spent hundreds of billions of dollars ensuring that 
this would not happen again. Yet every 2 months, that many people die 
because of our failure to provide universal insurance--and yet many 
Members of Congress want us to do nothing?
  Mr. Reid's book is a rich tour of health care around the world. 
Because he has a bum shoulder, he asked doctors in many countries to 
examine it and make recommendations. His American orthopedist 
recommended a titanium shoulder replacement that would cost tens of 
thousands of dollars and might or might not help. Specialists in other 
countries warned that a sore shoulder didn't justify the risks of such 
major surgery, although some said it would be available free if Mr. 
Reid insisted. Instead, they offered physical therapy, acupuncture, and 
other cheap and noninvasive alternatives, some of which worked pretty 
well.
  That's a window into the flaws in our health care system: we offer 
titanium shoulder replacements for those who don't really need them, 
but we let 32-year-old women die if they lose their health insurance. 
No wonder we spend so much on medical care, and yet have some health 
care statistics that are worse than Slovenia's.
  My suggestion for anyone in Nikki's situation: commit a crime and get 
locked up. In Washington State, a 20-year-old inmate named Melissa 
Matthews chose to turn down parole and stay in prison because that was 
the only way she could get treatment for her cervical cancer. ``If I'm 
out, I'm going to die from this cancer,'' she told a television 
station.
  This has to end. As Mr. Kristof wrote:
  Do we wish to be the only rich nation in the world that lets a 32-
year-old woman die because she can't get health insurance? Is that 
really us?

                          [September 13, 2009]

                         The Body Count at Home

                        (By Nicholas D. Kristof)

       In the debate over health care, here's an inequity to 
     ponder: Nikki White would have been far better off if only 
     she had been a convicted bank robber.
       Nikki was a slim and athletic college graduate who had 
     health insurance, had worked in health care and knew the 
     system. But she had systemic lupus erythematosus, a chronic 
     inflammatory disease that was diagnosed when she was 21 and 
     gradually left her too sick to work. And once she lost her 
     job, she lost her health insurance.
       In any other rich country, Nikki probably would have been 
     fine, notes T. R. Reid in his important and powerful new 
     book, ``The Healing of America.'' Some 8o percent of lupus 
     patients in the United States live a normal life span. Under 
     a doctor's care, lupus should be manageable. Indeed, if Nikki 
     had been a felon, the problem could have been averted, 
     because courts have ruled that prisoners are entitled to 
     medical care.
       As Mr. Reid recounts, Nikki tried everything to get medical 
     care, but no insurance company would accept someone with her 
     preexisting condition. She spent months painfully writing 
     letters to anyone she thought might be able to help. She 
     fought tenaciously for her life.
       Finally, Nikki collapsed at her home in Tennessee and was 
     rushed to a hospital

[[Page H9707]]

     emergency room, which was then required to treat her without 
     payment until her condition stabilized. Since money was no 
     longer an issue, the hospital performed 25 emergency 
     surgeries on Nikki, and she spent six months in critical 
     care.
       ``When Nikki showed up at the emergency room, she received 
     the best of care, and the hospital spent hundreds of 
     thousands of dollars on her,'' her step-father, Tony Deal, 
     told me. ``But that's not when she needed the care.''
       By then it was too late. In 2006, Nikki White died at age 
     32. ``Nikki didn't die from lupus,'' her doctor, Amylyn 
     Crawford, told Mr. Reid. ``Nikki died from complications of 
     the failing American health care system.''
       ``She fell through the cracks,'' Nikki's mother, Gail Deal, 
     told me grimly. ``When you bury a child, it's the worst thing 
     in the world. You never recover.''
       We now have a chance to reform this cruel and capricious 
     system. If we let that chance slip away, there will be 
     another Nikki dying every half-hour.
       That's how often someone dies in America because of a lack 
     of insurance, according to a study by a branch of the 
     National Academy of Sciences. Over a year, that amounts to 
     18,000 American deaths.
       After Al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 Americans, eight years 
     ago on Friday, we went to war and spent hundreds of billions 
     of dollars ensuring that this would not happen again. Yet 
     every two months, that many people die because of our failure 
     to provide universal insurance--and yet many members of 
     Congress want us to do nothing?
       Mr. Reid's book is a rich tour of health care around the 
     world. Because he has a bum shoulder, he asked doctors in 
     many countries to examine it and make recommendations. His 
     American orthopedist recommended a titanium shoulder 
     replacement that would cost tens of thousands of dollars and 
     might or might not help. Specialists in other countries 
     warned that a sore shoulder didn't justify the risks of such 
     major surgery, although some said it would be available free 
     if Mr. Reid insisted. Instead, they offered physical therapy, 
     acupuncture and other cheap and noninvasive alternatives, 
     some of which worked pretty well.
       That's a window into the flaws in our health care system: 
     we offer titanium shoulder replacements for those who don't 
     really need them, but we let 32-year-old women die if they 
     lose their health insurance. No wonder we spend so much on 
     medical care, and yet have some health care statistics that 
     are worse than Slovenia's.
       My suggestion for anyone in Nikki's situation: commit a 
     crime and get locked up. In Washington State, a 20-year-old 
     inmate named Melissa Matthews chose to turn down parole and 
     stay in prison because that was the only way she could get 
     treatment for her cervical cancer. ``If I'm out, I'm going to 
     die from this cancer,'' she told a television station.
       Mr. and Mrs. Deal say they are speaking out because Nikki 
     wouldn't want anyone to endure what she did. ``Nikki was a 
     college-educated, middle-class woman, and if it could happen 
     to her, it can happen to anyone,'' Mr. Deal said. ``This 
     should not be happening in our country.''
       Struggling to get out the words, Mrs. Deal added: ``The 
     loss of a child is the greatest hurt anyone will ever suffer. 
     Because of the circumstances she endured with the health care 
     system, I lost my daughter.''
       Complex arguments are being batted around in this health 
     care debate, but the central issue isn't technical but moral. 
     The first question is simply this: Do we wish to be the only 
     rich nation in the world that lets a 32-year-old woman die 
     because she can't get health insurance? Is that really us?

                          ____________________