Improving Our Health Care System
Floor Speech
IMPROVING OUR HEALTH CARE SYSTEM -- (House of Representatives - September 18, 2008)
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Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. You know, as I think about the issue of health and all the problems that we face individually and collectively, I think of how unfortunate it is when individuals are illiterate because it cuts them off from the ability to communicate with the rest of the world; and how unfortunate it is when people live in substandard housing because they don't have the sanctuary or they don't have the feeling of knowing that at the end of the day they can come in out of the rain or out of the cold or come in from a society that may not be as comforting as they would like for it to be.
It's so terrible when children don't have access to good schools and decent education and can't be in a position to compete effectively with other members of society. And then to be unemployed, not have a job to go to, not be able to sustain oneself, not be able to know that you have the resources that you need. But then to be sick on top of all that means that your life is relegated, for all practical purposes, to a level of despair and uncertainty for which you can find or see no way out. The child who is sick at school and can't see a physician or go to a clinic.
There is no point to the teacher talking about, ``Johnny, study hard,'' because Johnny doesn't feel like studying. I mean, Johnny's stomach is hurting, or Johnny can't see the board. And so telling Johnny to study hard doesn't mean a great deal to Johnny. Or the guy who wakes up in the morning and turns on the radio and the blues singer is saying, ``get a job.'' ``Every morning about this time you bring my breakfast to the bed crying. Get a job.'' Well, that person doesn't feel like going out looking for a job because they're sick. They don't feel like it; they're despondent, they're in despair. And so they're not going to get a job. They're not even going to go out and look for a job because they don't feel like going to work.
And so health care, as far as I'm concerned, and for my money, is the most important aspect of life, because without a sense of well-being, one cannot
challenge or confront the rest of societal needs.
Our health is the foundation of everything that you can think of. I often believe that my mother died prematurely because she had to travel 100 miles to go to the hospital for her dialysis treatment because that was the closest hospital to where she lived where she could get the treatment. And so not having access to health care has limited, in so many different ways, the ability for people to just have hopes of the American Dream, to just believe that they can experience it.
Yeah, there are those who take the position that we could never have universal health care; I mean, they say, ``never, ever.'' But, you know, I remember when people said that you could never put poor people into managed care. I remember when people said that HMOs would not survive, that they would never, ever make it. I remember when people said that you really couldn't have the proliferation of clinics. I worked in a community health center, and I remember when those were getting started. They were part of the ``Great Society'' programs, part of the legislation that came out of the marches and demonstrations led by Dr. Martin Luther King that came after John Kennedy had been elected President, assassinated, and then Lyndon Baines Johnson became President. And Democrats--I mean, they were Democrats--embarked upon a new program, something called the ``Great Society'' programs, just as years before a fellow named Franklin Delano Roosevelt kind of led the Nation towards social reform that brought us Social Security and some other protections that we didn't have.
Well, I think that right now is the best possible time for us to take another giant step, a quantum leap, if you will, and make sure that no single individual in our country, no matter who they are, where they come from, how wealthy they are, how poor they are, how without resources they are, no single individual should have to live in the United States of America without adequate protection for health care.
I mean, we are the wealthiest Nation on the face of the Earth. We are the most technologically advanced Nation. Yes, we are hurting in some ways. And of course we are hurting because we have not seen the distribution of the resources be as adequate as we need to see them. We have not seen as many people with access to the goodness and the greatness of this country. But when 41 percent of working age adults have a problem paying their medical bills or have a medical debt that they will never be able to pay, then something is wrong.
And we have not seen what we are capable of seeing. I was just thinking of some of the things that people have been telling us about their experiences. And I guess if you live in an environment that I live in and where I live, you individually know these people. It's not a matter of reading it in the newspaper or reading it in the magazine, you know the individuals personally who are having these kind of problems. For example, Jerome.
Jerome said to us, ``My wife was diagnosed with melanoma in September and died in November. I believe preventive health care and better diagnosis might have prolonged her life or provided a cure. She saw two dermatologists last year, and both failed to diagnose her condition. She went on to have moles and a cyst evaluated and removed. In addition to the failure to diagnose, the cost of insurance and deductibles exceeded $40,000. Prior hospital visits in the past 5 years for a stroke resulted in medical bills of approximately $100,000, which brought us to the verge of bankruptcy.
``Fortuitously, I received an inheritance last year which enabled me to pay the current bills. However, since being downsized 5 years ago at age 56, I have been unable to obtain employment. And my wife was unable to work due to the stroke and subsequent illnesses. I am a relatively well-educated man and I'm willing to work; however, I do not feel our current economic system values my experience and education. I am a certified financial planner. I have worked over 30 years with approximately $150,000 accumulated in retirement savings, all of which has been used for medical expenses. Without my inheritance, I would have my home, worth about $250,000, as my only asset.''
Julia writes, ``I've been fighting ovarian cancer for 19 years. I developed a secondary blood cancer last year and had to have a bone marrow transplant in January of 2007. Medicine is outrageously expensive. Luckily, I have mail order service that only costs $5 a prescription; otherwise, my medication would cost over $1,000 a month.
``Our insurance premiums cost $965 a month. My COBRA, just for me, is $565 a month. My husband and two children, which my husband pays for, $400 a month. My deductible is low, $250, but my family's is over $1,000. I am dreading if I am unable to work before COBRA runs out. I don't know what I will do for insurance as I am a teacher and don't know if I can get Medicare. I can't go on my husband's insurance as he works for a small company. They will get dropped by the insurance company if I am added. This has happened twice before.
``The medical system is broken. People shouldn't have to choose between health care and bankruptcy, which is the case for many who go through bone marrow transplants.''
Well, Congressman Conyers, as long as there are people like these in America, as long as there are individuals for whom the American Dream continues to be a tremendous nightmare, as long as there are people who have, in many instances, lost hope and given up, as long as there are individuals who can't see their way out no matter how much they struggle, how long, how hard and how difficult the challenges, and as long as there are people like you, who are willing to fight for every American, as long as there are people like you, I am going to be willing to join you.
And so I'm pleased that I was able to be here this evening to share with you and with Americans all over the country that health care should, in fact, be a right and not a privilege, that we must have a system where everybody is in and nobody is out.
I thank you. And I yield back the balance of my time.
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