[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 2 (Thursday, January 6, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E26-E28]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 THE WALK FOR HEALTHCARE: HEALTHCARE STORIES FROM ILLINOIS AND INDIANA 
                     COLLECTED BY OGAN GUREL, M.D.

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, January 6, 2011

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I submit the following stories, collected 
by Dr. Ogan Gurel.

       ``Martha finds it shameful that America can't provide basic 
     health care for its citizens, like any other developed 
     country does. `Civilized nations care for those in need,' she 
     said. She especially noted that the connection of health care 
     insurance to employment status was a big problem. `It doesn't 
     make sense. If you get sick, you have a greater chance of 
     being unemployed.' '' Martha--Chicago, 6/27/2009
       ``Addison, on the right, is Martha's older son. He's a 
     student in college who, with evident pride, told me that in 
     the past election he had just voted for the first time. As he 
     embarks on study abroad in Italy this coming fall, he is, 
     despite his glowing patriotism, embarrassed that health care 
     for all, as he has learned is the case in Italy, doesn't 
     exist here in America.'' Addison--Chicago, 6/27/2009
       ``I met Ron along Martin Luther King Drive. He was working 
     at painting a fence. He waved his hand towards the south side 
     streets beyond and said, `Yes, there's many people here 
     without health insurance.' With a serious look, he turned 
     back towards me. `Yes, without health care.' He shared a 
     story of an old lady from the neighborhood. She had a change 
     in coverage that now made it too expensive to get her insulin 
     for her diabetes. `It was all very fishy business,' Ron told 
     me. This lady, on Medicare, was in the hospital for some 
     time. An insurance salesman came to her hospital bed and 
     convinced her to change her coverage (Ron couldn't recall the 
     exact name but he told me it sounded, `Something like Well 
     Care'). What happened was that this `new' plan didn't cover 
     the old lady's particular type of insulin so, with her 
     `brand-new' private supplemental insurance plan in place, she 
     ended up now spending $129 a month, out-of-pocket, for her 
     medication. The insurance salesman is gone and now she's 
     struggling, Ron tells me, on top of her fight to stay well, 
     to piece together her wrecked insurance and financial 
     situation.'' Ron--Chicago, 6/27/2009
       ``Stopping by the Chicago Baptist Institute, I met Rev. 
     Joseph Felker, the Chairman of that organization. A crowd was 
     gathered and they were hosting an outdoor event--a `Healthy 
     Walk' event actually. He told me, `We should have had health 
     care for the uninsured years ago. It is a travesty, a true 
     travesty, but hopefully the change we are seeing is a start.' 
     '' Joseph--Chicago, 6/27/2009
       ``Sitting next to Rev. Felker was Rev. Dr. Tyler. He 
     concurred, saying that, `Health care reform is long overdue. 
     With the wealth

[[Page E27]]

     of this country, it's a shame that people don't have health 
     care.' They, and the others, were all very nice. They passed 
     me a couple bottles of water and many best wishes (and 
     prayers) for the journey onward to Washington, DC.'' 
     Clifford--Chicago, 6/27/2009
       ``Roderick from the hotel told me, `Everyone should have 
     health care and it should be provided by the government, not 
     by for-profit companies.' I asked him if he thinks the 
     current reform proposals are enough. He shook his head, `No.' 
     '' Roderick--Hammond, 6/28/2009
       ``As I walked along 25th Avenue (on the way to Gary), I 
     heard a honk from the road. They stopped, I looked over. 
     `Hey, Doc--weren't you on TV last night?' And so I headed 
     over to say hello and get the next story of the day. With 
     traffic zooming on by, we didn't have much time for chitchat. 
     But he, Chris was his name, told me, `We need help, it's 
     rough out here for everybody--not just the elderly. There's 
     drugs and alcohol problems, no treatment and the price of 
     medications is too much.' I asked if he could share a 
     specific example. `Sure,' he replied, while the older 
     gentleman in the passenger seat with him nodded in 
     acknowledgement. `My mother's got Alzheimer's and her 
     medications are $500 to $600 dollars a month. It's impossible 
     . . .' '' Chris--Hammond, 6/28/2009
       ``Eric shared his brother's story. He had had an eye 
     accident, lost his job on account of that and being without 
     health insurance had to file for bankruptcy. `That about 
     tells it all,' he said.'' Eric--Wheeler, 6/28/2009
       ``With parched throat, I stopped into the Indiana 
     University police station hoping to find a water fountain. 
     John, the officer-on-duty at the front desk, greeted me. 
     `It's a critical situation,' he told me. `Especially now that 
     people are losing jobs. But keeping prices down is important. 
     Even with the insured, prices are inflated, they're sky-
     high.' I nodded in reply. `So, it's hard to stay healthy if 
     you can't afford health care.' '' John--Gary, 6/28/2009
       ``Six miles later, now in Hobart, I stopped into United 
     States Security (a private security service) for some water. 
     I talked with Ed, the Director. `Definitely things need to 
     change,' he said. `But it's more like tweaking. I'm 100% 
     against something like the Canadian system.' I asked what he 
     thought of the health care reform debate in Washington. 
     `Well, I don't like the idea of the upper brass fat-cats 
     reaping rewards. They need to be dissolved or at least held 
     accountable . . . and take another bottle for the road,' he 
     added.'' Ed--Hobart, 6/28/2009
       ``Kyle's story is a bit complicated. He's a senior in 
     college (at Purdue in Hammond) but he started college a 
     couple years after graduating from high school. Because of 
     this unusual transition, it ended up that he had missed the 
     deadline for getting insurance through his mother's policy. 
     `I was working to put myself through college with a bunch of 
     part-time jobs. None of them, though, provided insurance . . 
     . then I got sick--very sick.' He was bedridden for several 
     days with fatigue and fever. He finally went to his family 
     doctor who took a blood test. Two days later, his mother 
     received an urgent call from the doctor saying, demanding 
     almost, that Kyle go to the emergency room immediately. Kyle 
     told me, `it was the highest white blood count he had ever 
     seen,' and he was concerned Kyle had leukemia. So, at the 
     behest of the doctor, and actually feeling better by this 
     time, they went the emergency room. It turned out, 
     thankfully, not to be leukemia, but Kyle ended up with a 
     $9,000 emergency room bill (he was never even admitted to the 
     hospital). `My mother and I spent months fighting and 
     negotiating,' he told me. `Luckily the Church organization 
     affiliated with St. Mary's finally--yes, finally--helped take 
     care of the bill.' Shaking his head in disbelief at the 
     Kafkaesque ordeal, Kyle concluded, `It was something--and I'm 
     not talking about the illness--I never, ever want to go 
     through again.' '' Kyle--Valparaiso, 6/28/2009
       ``John actually had two stories. First, his wife has 
     diabetes, lupus, and fibromyalgia and he feels that the drug 
     companies are just pushing drugs . . . through the doctors. 
     `The drugs don't work,' he told me. `She doesn't seem to get 
     better and all that seems to happen is that she gains 
     weight.' He then shared his second health care story which 
     happened after his first son was born. The $11,000 dollar 
     bill forced his family into bankruptcy, again, soon after his 
     wife gave birth. `It was like the bill was padded but there 
     was nothing I could do about it.' '' John--Wheeler, 6/28/2009
       ``Erin's mother (Dianne) has multiple sclerosis but doesn't 
     qualify for SSI (Social Security disability) or Medicare. Her 
     medication costs are so high that there's no money left for 
     anything else. Her symptoms involve significant diplopia 
     (double vision) and she can't work. Erin shook her head, 
     `It's a difficult situation and I don't really know what to 
     do.' '' Erin--Valparaiso, 6/29/2009
       ``Jack has good insurance. But his story starts with 
     unexplained pain in both of his feet. He went to dozens of 
     doctors, podiatrists, and other specialists but nothing 
     seemed to help except painkillers and these were prescribed 
     only sparingly. It was a terrible problem and he could barely 
     walk and was at risk of losing his job. `Then there was this 
     neurologist who gave me two injections in the back--L4, L5, I 
     think it was--and that worked!' I nodded, realizing that his 
     foot pain was clearly related to the back (perhaps spinal 
     stenosis or a herniated disc) rather than the feet. `But, 
     guess what, the insurance company wouldn't pay for the one 
     thing that worked and now I owe $6,000!' I grimaced at the 
     story. `Oh yes,' he added, `before, several years ago, I 
     didn't have insurance and I had to declare bankruptcy.' '' 
     Jack--Wheeler, 6/28/2009
       ``Michael told me he had no insurance. `Do you get sick?' I 
     asked. `Well, I try not to,' he answered. `If I must, I go to 
     these clinics, but the appointments are way off, there are 
     long waits, and sometimes it's impossible. I mean I can't 
     miss much work, either . . . And dental is really expensive. 
     I could have gotten a job that provided insurance but I'd 
     actually end up making much less.' '' Michael--Wanatah, 6/29/
     2009
       ``A few years back Keith had lost his job at the yogurt 
     factory in town. This provided health insurance but now as an 
     owner of a three taxi cab small business, he doesn't have 
     health insurance. He has significant heart disease and has 
     had six heart attacks, the first one at age 32. For this he's 
     gotten seven stents (a device placed in the coronary arteries 
     that keeps them open). The first two were covered by 
     insurance but since then he's racked up $56,000 in bills 
     which he has paid down to $12,000. [Interpretative note: I 
     know a bit about stents and I was surprised to hear he had so 
     many. But he did tell me that they continually get blocked up 
     and he takes Plavix--a form of `blood thinner'--to prevent 
     further blockage. I didn't ask him but perhaps he has the 
     less-expensive, bare-metal stents as compared to the much 
     more expensive drug-eluting stents which are designed to 
     reduce the possibility of blockage, or restenosis. While only 
     speculative, I would not be surprised if bare metal stents 
     were to be preferentially used for patients without 
     insurance. Unfortunately that might mean less cost per 
     operation but it typically results in more operations, ending 
     up in even greater cost.] Keith--Hanna, 6/29/2009
       ``Ginny lost work and took early retirement at 62 but, she 
     told me, `The bad thing about that is that there's no health 
     insurance.' I nodded. `I make too much for the Indiana health 
     care program, but not enough to pay for medical insurance. It 
     costs at least $300 a month. I've got diabetes and high blood 
     pressure and five grandchildren that live with me. My 
     daughter is legally blind so if something happens to me, I 
     don't know what will happen, who will care for, the 
     children.' Perhaps that explains why I look pretty grim in 
     the picture. I'm inspired, and humbled, by the bravery of 
     regular, hardworking Americans.'' Ginny--Plymouth, 6/30/2009
       ``Jay is the manager of the Days Inn in Plymouth. He told 
     me the story of his uncle (a U.S. citizen by the way) who had 
     a heart attack and required a triple bypass operation. `He 
     didn't have insurance, though and the operation would cost 
     about $118,000.' There was no way that he could pay that 
     money--the money that would save (or at least extend) his 
     life. And so he ended up having the operation in India which, 
     with airfare, cost about $35,000. Jay shook his head. `It 
     doesn't make sense how America can't take care of Americans.' 
     '' Jay--Plymouth, 6/30/2009
       ``Mike's the fiancee of the front desk attendant. He 
     doesn't have insurance having recently lost his job. `I still 
     owe a bunch of doctor's bills,' he told me. `I broke my hand 
     and right now it's better but I owe $12,000.' '' Mike--
     Plymouth, 6/30/2009
       ``Val is 58. She told me, `My husband and I have worked all 
     our lives, had insurance all our lives and we were both laid 
     off in November. We're looking for jobs and this is the first 
     time we've had no health insurance.' She looked at me with 
     unbelieving eyes. `We're hard-working people, too young for 
     Medicare. We just don't know what we'll do.' '' Val--
     Plymouth, 6/30/2009
       `` `I believe government should not be in health care,' 
     Brian told me, though he added that he'd like to see some 
     regulatory changes to actually increase competition, ensure 
     personal responsibility and decrease prices. `The system is 
     sure not working,' he told me.'' Brian--Etna Green, 7/1/2009
       ``Gruff but friendly, and with a face that oozed sincerity, 
     Harold answered, `the insurance--80/20, but my wife is 
     totally disabled so she's on the Medicaid . . . and I got a 
     $5,000 deductible! Every year, it just tears me up. We get 
     good care over there at Lutheran in Ft. Wayne but it's 
     outrageous. When the doctor gives a regular prescription--not 
     the generic stuff, and the pharmacist automatically gives you 
     the generic, makes you sick and then you have to go back to 
     the doctor to get the right stuff to send to the pharmacist, 
     that don't make no sense.' I asked Harold if he had any 
     choice of coverage or if this was the only insurance offered. 
     `There's no choice,' he told me. Indeed . . .'' Harold--
     Warsaw, 7/1/2009
       ``Scott told me that, `There should be less government 
     involvement. I really think it should be left in the hands of 
     the people.' He added that he used to work in the orthopedic 
     device industry (there are many in Warsaw). `What I feel that 
     would do, if health care was nationalized, is that it would 
     undervalue the products they are making. In the end, I think 
     it would work out as what they would lose in sales, they 
     would get in volume, but I really feel that the health care 
     scenario needs to be left to people, not the government.' '' 
     Scott--Warsaw, 7/1/2009
       ``Meeting Krystal in front of the Courthouse on Center 
     Street, I explained my walk, its purpose. Krystal asked how 
     many pairs of shoes I have and so I showed her the extra pair 
     strapped in a bag to my backpack and told her of the several 
     more in the luggage at the hotel. And with that, we began 
     talking about health care. `Insurance rates are sky

[[Page E28]]

     high,' she told me, lamented further that, `like I was 
     talking with my doctor, you almost have to call the insurance 
     companies to get the approval for what drugs you can 
     prescribe--insurance companies are driving the show . . . 
     they give the discounts or I think they're in the cahoots 
     with some of the drug companies. They say `Oh, we're having a 
     special on Lipitor' and so they push Lipitor.' We talked 
     about the pharmaceutical companies and that drug costs just 
     seemed to be too high.'' Krystal--Warsaw, 7/1/2009
       ``Being self-employed, and that business was not so good 
     this year, Uprendra cannot afford health coverage. He is not 
     insured, nor is any of the staff. He has diabetes and gets 
     his insulin, when he can, as free drug samples from his 
     brother, who is a retired doctor. I was humbled by his 
     generosity, the complimentary room and the $20 donation, his 
     wife (and hotel co-operator) Sheila, gave me when I checked 
     out the following morning.'' Uprendra--Warsaw, 7/1/2009
       ``Brittany, on the left, told me she has no insurance. She 
     said, `I think everybody should have insurance. You never 
     know what will happen. I've been sick and had to pay cash and 
     it's not cheery.' '' Brittany--Warsaw, 7/1/2009
       ``Amanda, like Brittany on the left, also has no insurance 
     and now has `tons of medical bills.' She told me she is 
     slowly--`very slowly,' she put it--paying for them.'' 
     Amanda--Warsaw, 7/1/2009
       ``Ed was in the service, in the Philippines during World 
     War II. He was later an electrician at the Harvard Cyclotron 
     in Cambridge (on Oxford Street). He has had many medical 
     problems but hasn't had any difficulties being on Medicare. 
     Some things are not paid for but by-and-large, he's happy. He 
     has often thought that universal health care insurance should 
     be provided by the government and that higher taxes were 
     likely necessary. `If the government managed its budget 
     better, there'd be money to pay for it,' he added. He also 
     said, `People without health care insurance live under 
     handicapped conditions. With insurance, a wage-earner can be 
     free to concentrate on his family, his education, and think 
     more clearly.' He was very happy I met with him and 
     concluded, `I'm so surprised at the opportunity to talk.' '' 
     Ed--Warsaw, 7/1/2009
       ``The most telling story came to us in a Mexican store down 
     the street. I spoke with one of the counter people, who 
     wished not to be identified. She told us that she did have 
     insurance (through her husband) and that she was happy with 
     the system and that she would not change anything. Then, next 
     to the register, I noticed a posted sign with a picture of a 
     young boy in a hospital bed pleading for $100,000 to help 
     with a kidney transplant. Doesn't that tell it all?'' Warsaw, 
     7/1/2009
       I'm unemployed,' Scott told me, `and don't have no 
     insurance. But, I've been pretty healthy, 'cept my teeth 
     here--gotta work on that sometime.' I nodded. `The difficult 
     story is with my girlfriend. She works part-time and also no 
     insurance. She makes too much for HIP (Indiana public 
     assistance program) so that's that. A few months ago, she had 
     a kidney stone and the local hospital wouldn't take care of 
     her so they sent her to Indianapolis. The pain was so bad and 
     she ended up having some operation there.' He said that there 
     was no way they could pay any of the bills being that they 
     were barely making ends meet. We drove by the trailer park 
     that was their home and he told me how they were lucky, that 
     the next trailer park up in Columbia City had been recently 
     hit by a tornado and a few homes destroyed. Throughout the 
     trip Scott was glowingly optimistic. But as he was about to 
     drop me off, his face turned sour. `Tell those knuckleheads 
     in Washington to get with it out here.' '' Scott--Columbia 
     City, 7/2/2009
       ``Last December Trushar had fallen down in an ice storm, 
     breaking his left wrist. He was without health insurance and 
     making do with the pain, waited a week--by this time it had 
     become considerably swollen--to have it eventually seen by a 
     family friend, who happened to be a doctor. The family ended 
     up spending about $500 for various x-rays, the visit to the 
     doctor was free, but he was told that if it had gotten worse, 
     the surgery for it would cost about $25,000. If that came to 
     pass, they decided that Trushar (who is a U.S. citizen) would 
     go back to India to have the surgery.'' Trushar--Ft. Wayne, 
     7/2/2009
       ``Hina's one of the workers at the hotel--doubles up as 
     back-up front desk and housekeeping. In fact, it seemed like 
     everyone had a hand in all aspects of the operation. Hina's 
     had what she called a `muscle lock' in her neck, which 
     sounded to me like a cervical muscle spasm, perhaps even a 
     herniated cervical disk--hard to tell. In any case, she's had 
     no insurance and hasn't seen a doctor or been to a hospital 
     for it. She remains in pain, housekeeping work is hard, and 
     this is making it harder. She looks warily around. I know 
     that this hotel staff is like family, and they likely 
     wouldn't fire her for a situation that is undoubtedly 
     compromising her productivity. But in a crueler world (which 
     is quite common), she'd be out, replaced by someone else 
     healthier, but also without insurance. Hina, in a way, is 
     lucky.'' Hina--Ft. Wayne, 7/2/2009
       ``It was back in 2002 that Bonnie lost her job of 22 years. 
     At that time, she had been on COBRA though, `it was 
     incredibly expensive,' she recalled. She has insulin-
     dependent diabetes, high blood pressure, and `Charcot 
     joints.' Her insurance and medications cost $1,500 a month. 
     `When you don't have insurance you don't have any choices,' 
     she said.'' Bonnie--Ft. Wayne, 7/3/2009
       ``Pat shared with me a friend's story. Her daughter, 
     diagnosed with severe rheumatoid arthritis since the age of 
     26 had been suffering for many years. A six-week course of 
     Remicade cost her $7,200 and, as Pat told me, `Her mother has 
     cashed in her 401K,' to pay for that. `Nothing should cost 
     $7,200.' '' Pat--Ft. Wayne, 7/3/2009
       ``Nate's a young and relatively healthy guy. `Last year, in 
     December, I came down with pneumonia,' he told me. He's a 
     diabetic and so his illness was complicated by diabetic 
     ketoacidosis, acute kidney failure, staph infections, and 
     `cardiac issues.' `I was in the ICU for twelve days, 
     unconscious for a week,' he told me. Even though he just been 
     laid off from his job, he told me, 'he was lucky in the 
     timing of things . . . like a `roll-of-the-dice,' that he 
     happened to have insurance just when he had gotten deathly 
     ill. And hopefully he won't get so sick again, since COBRA, 
     which he cannot now afford, costs $800/month especially with 
     his pre-existing conditions . . . and especially being 
     unemployed.'' Nate--Ft. Wayne, 7/3/2009
       ``Jessica and her husband were laid off from their RV 
     company (based in Elkhart, Indiana) this past August. They 
     have four kids under the age of 10. They lost all their 
     health coverage and cannot afford COBRA which cost $1,200/
     month. The kids are now on Medicaid but they, the parents, 
     are uninsured. `If something happens to them,' she asked, 
     `how'll the kids be taken care of?' This is Noah and Chris in 
     the picture also. Today was Noah's birthday too and thanks to 
     the Ft. Wayne rally, he had a big turnout for his party!'' 
     Jessica--Ft. Wayne, 7/3/2009
       ``Cameron's a 4th year medical student but on a leave of 
     absence to pursue a law degree. He's planning for a career in 
     health advocacy--at the intersection of health and law. As a 
     student, however, he cannot afford, at $220/month, the health 
     insurance offered to him. But he's lucky because he gets 
     coverage through his wife who's a resident. In his medical 
     school experiences, he's come across many patients who have 
     foregone medical care because of a lack of health insurance 
     and this has inspired him to help to solve this problem.'' 
     Cameron--Ft. Wayne, 7/3/2009
       ``Terri--`an older member of the workforce,' as she put 
     it--is currently unemployed. She has no health insurance and 
     with several chronic conditions, chronic sinusitis and 
     hypertension included, she's `in a difficult situation,' 
     Terri tells me. Her prescriptions have `ran out' and without 
     insurance, her doctor won't see her. Even though she asked 
     about a payment plan, `They told me, they take payment in 
     full.' Terri's an informed person. 'High blood pressure is a 
     silent killer,' she adds, and 'I don't want to be silently 
     killed because I can't get the treatment.' She reminded me 
     that she's certainly not the only one in such a predicament, 
     but told me, `I'm just speaking out, because everybody has to 
     speak. If you don't speak on it, no one would ever know.' '' 
     Terri--Ft. Wayne, 7/3/2009
       ``Deb works at the Subway in New Haven, just east of Ft. 
     Wayne. Her health coverage costs $600/month through her 
     husband's union plan (he's a carpenter). `If I got the 
     insurance on my own,' she told me, `it'd cost $850 a month.' 
     She shook her head and said, `Even though I consider myself 
     lucky, this is crazy!' '' Deb--New Haven, 7/3/2009

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