[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 158 (Wednesday, October 28, 2009)]
[House]
[Pages H12031-H12034]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
THE TRUE COST OF NOT HAVING HEALTH INSURANCE
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Polis). Under the Speaker's announced
policy of January 6, 2009, the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Grayson) is
recognized for 60 minutes.
Mr. GRAYSON. Mr. Speaker, I reserved some time tonight for myself,
but what I am going to do is yield it to America. I am going to yield
it to you. I am going to yield it to the people who sent us here.
As Abraham Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address, ``The world will
little note nor long remember what we say here.'' Sometimes I feel the
same way. So I think it is time to give somebody else a chance.
What I am going to do tonight is give a chance to the part of America
that isn't often heard from, the people that have lost their jobs, the
people who have lost their homes, and tonight the people who have lost
their lives; the people who lost their lives because they had no health
coverage, they had no health insurance, and so they died.
There are 44,789 Americans who die every year for lack of health
insurance. There are 122 who die every day. In the course of my speech
tonight, there will be five more. I wish we would act quickly to end
this national tragedy.
So I am going to yield my time tonight to the people who wrote to us
and told us the stories of ones they loved and lost at this Web site,
NamesOfTheDead.com. Hundreds and hundreds of people have written since
last week when we established this site, and they have told us stories
about the people who they loved and lost because they had no health
insurance. So let's begin.
Stephen Martin wrote to us as follows concerning Thomas Martin of
Santa Cruz, California. Steve wrote:
[[Page H12032]]
``Tom had a hernia, but also thought something else might be wrong
with him down there. He had no insurance, so he kept putting off the
hernia operation. After he finally did get the hernia operation, out of
total necessity, he realized that indeed something else was going on.
He had little money, so he put off having it looked into, until his
bowels were totally blocked. It was a tumor. Colon cancer. He still
didn't get treatment for months until he could get medical help from a
government program. He died a year later.
``The biggest problem is all the delays that happen if someone
doesn't have health insurance; not having the money, not knowing how to
get help, hoping the problem isn't serious, and trying to ignore it
until it is too late.''
This is the first of several real live stories we will be hearing
tonight from the people who Jesse Jackson used to call the
dispossessed, the despised and the dammed; the people who never get any
help.
{time} 1700
The people who never get any help. All we can do for them now is
simply remember them and honor them with these stories.
David Clark wrote regarding Christopher Gordon Clark of Key West,
Florida:
``My brother Christopher died of colon cancer. He lived with symptoms
for years because he was poor and didn't see a doctor. He was an actor
and worked low-paying retail and service jobs that never offered health
insurance. By the time he was in too much pain to work and he went to
the emergency room, it was too late. Tumors had grown too big and it
spread throughout his body. Colon cancer is, of course, nearly 100
percent avoidable through early detection and polyp removal.''
But that never happened for Christopher Gordon Clark, dead at the age
of 33.
Lynn Long wrote to us about Jim Bowles at the Web site
namesofthedead.com. She wrote as follows:
``Jim was a longtime friend and the best electrician around. He could
fix anything. Most of the time he worked for small companies and
repaired small appliances. The small firms never offered him health
insurance. Jim was my neighbor. This time of year we would get out the
lawn decorations, the fog machine and really do it up big for
Halloween. But Jim died 2 years ago. By the time he was diagnosed with
bladder cancer, it was too late and the cancer had spread. Had he had
yearly checkups and screenings through regular health care, he would be
here today. I miss Jim terribly and so does his daughter.''
Let's hear now from Sally York writing about Ricky Ramsey:
``Ricky was on his mother's health insurance until he turned 19, and
because he was unable to find a job that offered insurance or one that
he could afford to buy insurance, he went without. It was December, 5
years ago. He had been complaining of not feeling well for a few days.
His mother finally told him to go to the hospital emergency. They said
it was the flu and sent him home. It was Christmas Eve and he called
his mom and said that he was so sick; he could not get out of bed. She
went over to his apartment and took him again to the hospital
emergency, and he died. They said it was from the complications of the
flu. But Mother was not satisfied with that answer. After an autopsy,
they discovered that he had one of the killer bacteria that is
antibiotic resistant. Nineteen years old and dead because he was being
shuffled in the system because he had no insurance.
Let's hear now from Jane Alexander about Tim Crowder of Saint
Charles, Missouri:
``Tim was our neighbor's son-in-law. He was having chest pains for a
couple of months. He would not go to the doctor because he had no
health insurance and could not pay out-of-pocket medical expenses. Tim
died 2 days before his 49th birthday. We will never know for sure, but
it's likely that Tim would have benefited from cardiocare. His death
was preventable. He left two children and many family members and
friends who grieve for him and his untimely death.''
Let's listen now to T.C. Smythe about Dale Dickerson, 42 years old,
of Houston, Texas. Smythe writes:
``Dale was a full-time musician and part-time photographer. He died
of a heart attack that was caused by arterial sclerosis at the age of
42. As a musician, he did not have access to health insurance or health
care. I personally know more than a thousand musicians in Houston who
have no health insurance because the cost just can't be paid for out of
a tip jar. Musicians pay 100 percent of the retail price at the
doctor's office, the emergency room, and the pharmacy because we do not
make enough money for health insurance. There is no minimum wage for
musicians, and none of us has the $300 a month necessary to get into
the most basic plans available. America, our truly gifted songwriters
deserve better.''
And, for sure, Dale Dickerson deserved to live.
Let's hear now from Linda Kozloff regarding Lacretia Ann Crowe, 58
years old, Lyons, Colorado:
``My dear friend Lacretia found out in 2005 that she had `something'
wrong with her. She originally thought that she had some type of
stomach problems. Lacretia was independently employed and she had no
health insurance. As she got sicker, she could no longer work, and she
could not make her house payments. Because she had no insurance, no
institution would take her seriously. They just bounced her back and
forth from one office to another. She was then too sick to get a job
that offered health insurance, even though it might have saved her. The
computer I have here today has letter after letter saved, first
pleading and then begging for someone to hire her so that she could get
some health care. By the time she was nearly disabled by ovarian
cancer, her fate became inevitable. She tried desperately at the end to
get on some type of Medicare or Medicaid, but because she owned her
house and several old vehicles, she could not qualify. As she suffered
beyond imagination, she tried to sell everything off, her house and all
her possessions, and ended up in hospice, where I witnessed her gradual
overdose by morphine until she died. Her house was foreclosed and all
her possessions were gone. She died on March 7, 2007, at 2:51 a.m.''
Let's hear now about Vicky Johnson from David Trotter:
``Vicky had been bleeding for 2 years. When I made a trip to see her,
she told me she was afraid to go to the doctor because of the potential
costs. By the time she was diagnosed, she had lung, brain, and ovarian
cancer. She only lived about 3 months after that. To see the terror in
her eyes as she dealt with this is something no civilized person could
watch and then deny her the help she needed.'' David adds, ``I am
ashamed of my country.''
Let's hear about Cindy Rhea from David Twiggs:
``Cindy was a custodian who worked for Southeastern Custodial
Services in Knoxville, Tennessee. They had Knox County Government
custodial contracts. I worked for the Election Commission in Knox
County, and Cindy was assigned to our building. The contractor,
nonunion, of course, did not provide insurance for its workers at
Cindy's level. I know this because one of the employees who works in
the HR department of this company was my daughter's best friend in high
school. Cindy had a heart condition and she had to take medication
regularly to survive. She did a good job and she was always friendly.
One day she didn't come into work. We found out later that day that her
teenage son found her dead in bed. He was a senior in high school.
Cindy couldn't afford her medication as it was prescribed, so she just
alternated her medications to make them last longer. She was not
educated enough to realize that this made the medication not work as
intended. Not having health care killed Cindy and left an indelible
impression upon her son. I cry every time I think of her.''
Let's hear now from Sandra Chung about Michelle Marie Pavlak, 23
years old, Norwich, Connecticut:
``Michelle was the working poor with a cardiac condition: mitral
regurgitation. She couldn't get insurance for one reason: She was
denied for a preexisting condition. She tried to find other insurers
but couldn't afford the premiums that would be more than three-quarters
of her income. She could barely afford the medication, and she
[[Page H12033]]
often had to choose between food and her medication. She tried to get
State aid, but she earned $15 above the poverty level, so was denied.
She was 6 months pregnant. She caught bronchitis. She went to the ER
because she couldn't get a doctor to take her on as a new patient
because she didn't have insurance and she was a `high risk' patient
with a preexisting condition. She made it clear she was in cardiac
alert. She even had a medical alert bracelet. People with a cardiac
problem, when they get an infection, no matter how minor, they are
supposed to be given massive dosages of antibiotics and consult with a
cardiologist and be monitored to make sure the infection didn't spread
to her heart and other organs. The ER doctor listened to her lungs,
pronounced she had bronchitis, gave her some Sudafed, a cough medicine,
over-the-counter. No antibiotics, no consult with a cardiologist, no
EEG monitoring. Without a prescription for her much-needed antibiotics,
the infection spread to her heart, her kidneys, and her liver. She gave
birth almost 3 months premature. My nephew, Andrew Michael, died at 10
days old, and she died from an aneurysm caused by the infection passing
the blood/brain barrier. In the space of 1 week, I became an aunt and
then an only child.''
Suzanne McKnight writes to us about Gregory Scott in Franklin,
Tennessee, 42 years old:
``Two and a half years ago, my 42-year-old son died of coronary
artery disease. He had been downsized 3 years before and he had lost
his insurance. Since he had diabetes, he could not afford insurance and
he couldn't get a job either because of a terrible job market. He
stopped getting regular checkups because his money was running out and
he was embarrassed to ask his family for help. He died 2 days after
Christmas of 2006, and his doctor spent many nights going over anything
that he had missed in the records. Greg might have been saved had his
insurance followed him when he lost his job or he might have been saved
if he could have afforded insurance. He was the middle of my three
sons, and we have never gotten over his sudden loss and probably never
will.''
John Godwin writes to us about Roger Godwin, 70 years old, of
Andover, New Hampshire:
``My father, Roger Godwin, died this past summer due to problems with
our health care system. He did have insurance, but he was a victim of a
system that is focussed more on the bottom line than care. He
experienced severe pain in his back, but he was denied access to an MRI
and physical therapy was prescribed instead. Physical therapy is not
effective when the problem is a tumor growing next to your spine and,
worse, does nothing to detect this threatening condition before it
begins to spread. And spread it did, eventually leading to tumors in my
father's lungs, brain, liver, and, most painfully, in his bones. He
fought hard, but he died after a painful struggle lasting almost a
year. My father was a veteran of the Korean War, active in local
government, and he gave to his community in a myriad of other ways. He
was greatly beloved by his family and those in his community. He
deserved better.''
And John Godwin says, ``We deserve better.''
Joel Witherspoon wrote to us about Louis Bruce Witherspoon, 61 years
old, of Anaheim, California:
``For 17 years, my father worked for a major utility here in southern
California. At the age of 51, he was laid off and he spent 6 years
looking for work and surviving on help from me and a meager retirement.
He finally found work at 57 working for Tenet Health Care as a computer
technician. It was humiliating work but it was work. In order to cut
costs, Tenet Health Care kept him on part time for 6 years without
benefits. He was given favorable reviews, but when he applied for full-
time positions with benefits, they were given to younger and less
costly employees. In the middle of his 6th year, he began to develop
respiratory issues that became progressively worse until he finally
collapsed in the parking lot of the hospital where he worked.
{time} 1715
After a week of testing, it was discovered he had terminal prostate
cancer. The cancer had metastasized to his lungs, liver, and his brain.
The doctors gave him only a few months to live. No doctor at the
hospital would treat him. When pressed for answers, his boss and higher
ups clammed up. We couldn't get any information out of any of them.
After 3 months, he passed away in a hospital in Inglewood.''
Let's hear now from Cortney Helmick of Port St. Lucie, Florida about
Chris Ilijic. She wrote as follows:
``The love of my life and my dear best friend took his own life on
May 9, 2009. He had a long-term drug abuse and mental health problem.
He and his family tried to get him help over and over again with no
luck because he had no health care insurance. He could not afford
mental health care on his own, living on unemployment and unable to
find new work due in part to the economy and in part to his mental
health issues. On Tuesday, May 5, 2009, he and his mother went to a
local mental health clinic asking for help because he was becoming
worse. They were turned away due to an inability to pay and a lack of
insurance. That Saturday, 5 days later, my friend took his own life.
After many attempts for help and being rejected over and over, he felt
there was no way out of his own mental health misery. Something needs
to be done. My friend has just as much right to health care as
anyone.'' And then Cortney writes, ``As we all do.''
And now from Jasmine about Rebecca Jane Delgado of Lampasas, Texas:
``I found out my mother had cancer on August 23, 2007, my first day
of classes at St. Edwards University. We were told it was ovarian
cancer in the final stage, but some treatments were still available so
we started with the standard, which was chemotherapy. I missed several
classes going to sit with her while she sat amongst the other cancer
patients at the oncology center. The first chemotherapy didn't work, so
we tried a different one that required a special port implant. Blue
Cross/Blue Shield didn't approve the implant, so I used what was left
of my financial aid for school to pay for her. That didn't work either,
so we started going to special oncology hospitals looking for
alternative treatments. We got a nutrition plan and some pills, but
everything else was experimental. The treatment centers wanted upwards
of $100,000 for some new treatments that were available, but we didn't
have that kind of money. I don't know whether the experimental
treatments would have worked or not, but I sure would have liked to
try. My mother died last November. I lost my mother, and I am only 23
years old. I have no other family. I spent Christmas alone. I will do
anything to ensure this never happens again to anyone else, ever.''
Let's hear now from Julie Nichols about Frankie Nichols, 41 years old
in Copeville, Texas:
``My husband Frankie didn't have health insurance and rarely went to
the doctor. He was a relatively young man without any health problems.
He came down with what we thought was pneumonia in March of 2006. I got
him to a doctor because I had coverage through my job, but we couldn't
afford the additional $500 monthly premium to include him. He went to
the doctor in April 2006. After treating him for 3 weeks because he
didn't have coverage, we were out of pocket $2,000. A CAT scan was done
which determined he had lung cancer. The doctor advised us to go to a
public county hospital because they were not equipped to provide
treatment. The county we live in does not have a public hospital, so we
went to a different county hospital elsewhere in order to get him seen.
He was admitted through the emergency room and he stayed in the
hospital for 2 weeks while the doctors determined the origin of the
cancer. He received one chemo treatment and he was sent home. His next
chemo treatment was scheduled for May 25, 2006. He died on May 24,
2006. I think that if he had access to treatment when he first became
ill, he would have survived a bit longer. Perhaps not, but any
additional time he could have spent with me and our kids would have
been precious to us. Now I am unemployed and uninsured myself. I worry
how I will cope if I get ill and need extreme medical treatment. I have
two kids who depend on me and have access to regular health care only
through me. If they had access to regular health care and I knew they
could count on it, it would lift a worry from my mind.''
Let's hear from Andrew Latzman regarding Allen Latzman, 65 years old,
in
[[Page H12034]]
New Rochelle, New York. Andrew wrote to us:
``My father, Allen Latzman had juvenile diabetes since he was 27. He
was a successful marketing executive who lost his job in 1980. After
that, he drove a cab in New York City for 13 years. He did not have
health insurance because he had to support a family of two boys after
our mother died and he simply couldn't afford it. His endocrinologist
for years had to sneak him insulin. Over time, his complications of
diabetes worsened, but he could not afford the proper treatment as he
had many retail jobs, after he drove a cab, and he went without
insurance. Despite the challenges, he was still in pretty good shape--
thin, healthy and active--until January 2003. He was walking back to
his apartment at his job at Workbench and he slipped on the ice and
shattered his ankle. At this point, he did have insurance through his
employer and he went to surgery and repaired his ankle. But soon after
that, Workbench filed for Chapter 11 and while they said that they
would pay for their employees' health insurance up to 6 months after
the termination of employment due to bankruptcy, the owner instead took
all of the money he promised to allocate to insurance and he pocketed
it. During this time, my father thought he was covered, and then he
found out that his employer had not fulfilled his commitment. While
this was occurring, my father's leg on which he had surgery in 2003
began to worsen. His circulation became poor and he had difficulty
walking. The limited mobility had made him put on weight, and he had
become increasingly unhealthy. But he no longer had any health
insurance. The predicament he had been put into forced him to wait over
a year for needed surgery to turn a vein into an artery and improve
circulation, until he was 65 and was eligible for Medicare. During this
time related to his poor condition, he had a heart attack. This heart
attack was found in a stress test prior to his leg surgery, but the
endocrinologist never disclosed he had a previous heart attack before
the leg surgery. My father went into surgery not knowing the
seriousness of his situation, and after his surgery he had a heart
attack post-op and he never recovered. He was hospitalized for 3 months
in extreme pain. He might have been able to fully recover had it not
been for a series of secondary infections that he picked up from the
hospitalization. He died in May of 2005 at the age of 65. I was able to
tell my father while he was still slightly lucid that he was going to
be a grandfather for the second time. Unfortunately, my son Nate, never
met him. My father is the signature case of a man who needed to be
better monitored because of a chronic condition, and the lack of
insurance and proper care killed him. Dead men tell no tales, so I will
tell his story for him. I love you, Daddy.''
Now let's listen to Clifford Theiss about Charles Theiss, 62 years
old, Plant City, Florida:
``Carl, as we called him, was a kind and passionate brother whom we
all loved greatly. He had spent 25-plus years employed by a trucking
company in Tampa, Florida. One morning he arrived at work to find the
gates had been padlocked, and a handwritten note alerting all employees
that the company had folded. No other warnings were given. And in what
seems like the fashion today, there was no compensation for anyone. He
had enough 401(k) money, enough to survive on, but health insurance was
at best a dream for him then. Being in his late fifties, he found it
rather hard to secure employment, so he opted to retire on a minimal
SSI. He had spoken to me occasionally about the high cost of medical
care, but never mentioned that he was a living time bomb because he had
a dangerous heart condition that required treatment. Carl was found
dead in his apartment on February 3, 2008, by his daughter, a daughter
for whom he had scrimped and saved to put through college. Ironically,
she is now a doctor. He died in his sleep of massive heart failure.
During the following days, his family found several unfulfilled
prescriptions dating years back that if filled would have certainly
saved his life or at least extended it. But due to the cost, he could
not afford the medication. He had paid for doctors' visits out of his
pocket, only to discover that he was doomed to die.''
Ladies and gentlemen, I could go on and on and on. We have received
hundreds upon hundreds of stories like this at this Web site,
NamesoftheDead.com. These are the stories of America. These are the
stories of people who are suffering, and people who sent us to
Washington, D.C. to solve their problems for them. Not to debate, not
to delay, but to keep them alive.
The reason why I read these stories is this: Again as Lincoln said,
in talking about these people, it is their loved ones who speak best
for them. As Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address, It is far beyond
my poor power to add or detract. Rather, it is for the living to be
dedicated here to the unfinished work for which these people have died.
That, my friends, is the unfinished work of universal health care in
America. That is our unfinished work.
I look forward to a day I hope will come very soon, not soon enough
for all of these people, all of these people who have died, but a day
to come very soon when there will be no more stories like this, when
there will be no more names to add to the Web site NamesoftheDead.com.
And for God's sake, I look forward to the time when we will have
finally done our jobs.
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