[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 191 (Wednesday, December 16, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13278-S13279]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, we continue making progress toward making it 
possible for every American to afford to live a healthy life. Senators 
continue to work together toward that goal because even though we may 
have differences of opinion on the details, we all share the strong 
belief in the differences we can make for the American people as it 
relates to their being healthy.
  We all know our current system is beyond broken, and we know the 
citizens of this country demand that we fix it. We know this because 
they tell us--in letters, in phone calls, and visits we have at home, 
and we have not been going home very much, but certainly when we are 
able to get there. Those who oppose making health insurance more 
affordable and making health insurance companies more accountable would 
like you to believe that is not the case. But that is only propaganda 
by the insurance industry.
  They want you to think the American people are happy when these 
greedy insurance companies deny health care to the sick and take away 
their coverage at the exact moment they need it the most.
  They would like you to believe the American people do not mind 
hearing a multibillion-dollar company tell them: I am sorry you have 
diabetes. I am sorry you have a heart condition. But, also, it hurts my 
bottom line, so you are on your own.
  These insurance companies and health care deliverers want you to 
believe that women gladly pay more than they should for the screenings 
they have to catch breast cancer, that men gladly pay more than they 
should to have the test to catch prostate cancer, and that seniors 
gladly pay much more than they should to get their prescription drugs.
  Those who are trying to slow the Senate--and really the country--and 
stop reform want you to believe the American people do not mind paying 
hidden taxes to cover the uninsured, they do not mind the waste and 
fraud rampant in the health care system, and they do not mind losing 
their health insurance if they lose their job. But, simply, that is not 
true. That is not the case.
  The people we represent--whether it is New Mexico, Montana; we have 
two from New Mexico, we have one from Michigan, one from Kentucky, 
Oklahoma--it does not matter what State you represent; there are 
stories.
  Listen to what Mike Tracy, who lives in north Las Vegas, NV, said. 
His 26-year-old son has been an insulin-dependent diabetic since he was 
a baby. The insurance Mike's son gets through work will not cover his 
treatments, and the Tracys cannot afford to buy more coverage on their 
own.
  But this family's troubles are about more than just money. Since they 
could not afford to treat their son's diabetes, it developed into 
something called Addison's disease--a disease that President Kennedy 
had. If you have money, you can treat the disease. If you do not, it is 
a very bad disease, likely could be fatal.
  This is what Mike wrote me this past Friday.

       I don't know what to pray for first: that I will die before 
     my son will so I don't have to bear the burden, or that I 
     outlive him so I can provide support to his family when he is 
     gone.

  This should not be a choice for any American, and when given the 
chance to help people such as Mike, our choice should be easy.
  Here is another example: Ellen O'Rourke wrote to me last Tuesday 
about her friends, the Hidalgos, who live in Incline Village, NV, a 
town on the shores of Lake Tahoe. The Hidalgos' 2-year-old daughter 
Lexie Mae has a cancer of the eye that could cost her vision or her 
life.
  Lexie Mae's parents do not have health insurance and are counting on 
friends to help pay for their daughter's mounting medical bills. They 
are also counting on us to lower the cost of health care so they can 
afford their own. They work hard. They want health insurance. They 
cannot get it.
  Another letter I got last week was from Elizabeth Parsons. She 
teaches music at an elementary school in Reno and volunteers after 
school at a dance and drama theater in town. She is 60 years old and 
wanted to retire at the end of this school year. But as she wrote me 
last Thursday.

       Unfortunately that plan has been postponed indefinitely for 
     one reason only:

  ``one reason''--

       I can't afford to retire because of the skyrocketing 
     increases in [my] health insurance.

  Ms. Parsons has done a lot for her community. Now her country's 
leaders should do something for her: We should make sure her decision 
about whether to retire doesn't hinge on how expensive it is to keep 
her insurance.
  A man named Walt Cousineau from Elko wrote me last Monday to tell me 
about his wife. She had a heart attack three Decembers ago. Health 
insurance companies are using that as an excuse to charge $2,000 a 
month for coverage, $25,000 a year. They call it a preexisting 
condition, a prior heart attack. She is not old enough yet for 
Medicare, but Walt is. He is 68. He had to go back to work so she could 
be put on his health insurance. Now Walt is asking us to go to work for 
him and asking us to make sure no one's health history can make staying 
healthy in the future more expensive.
  Ken Hansen is from Mesquite, a town on the Arizona-Nevada border. He 
has chronic health problems and parts of his feet have been amputated. 
Ken can't go to a doctor because he makes too much to qualify for 
Medicaid and too little to afford private insurance. I wish to share 
with the Senate exactly what Ken wrote me:

       I am very frustrated because my only hope is that I die 
     very soon because I can't afford to stay alive.

  Those are his words--not my words--that his only hope is that he die. 
How can we look the other way? How can we possibly do nothing? This 
isn't about balance sheets or graphs or charts; it is not about 
contracts or fine print; it is not about politics or partisanship. This 
is about life and death in America.
  Each story is more heartbreaking than the last. Each of these 
Nevadans has more than enough on his or her mind. Yet each of these 
citizens took time out of his or her day to beg their leaders to do 
something.
  Mike Tracy, the father of the young man with diabetes and Addison's 
disease, ended his letter to me just a few days ago with this plea. 
Here is what he said:

       Democrats need health care. Republicans need health care. 
     Independents need health care. All Americans need health 
     care. Get it done.

  We can't let them down. We just can't let them down.
  Those trying to kill this reform have made it clear they will do 
anything to stop us. They can recite recycled talking points until 
their hearts' content, but that is it. But as long as Mike Tracy's son 
might die from a disease we know how to treat, we can't let these

[[Page S13279]]

obstacles stand in our way. As long as Lexie Mae's parents have to 
borrow from their friends to take their daughter to the doctor, we 
can't take no for an answer. As long as Elizabeth Parsons can't afford 
to retire, Walt Cousineau can't afford to stay retired, and Ken Hansen 
says he can't afford to stay alive, we can't stop fighting for them.

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