CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—

Extensions of Remarks

E22

January 6, 2011

IN RECOGNITION OF THEHONORABLE CONRAD FOA

HON. CAROLYN B. MALONEY

OF NEW YORK

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Mrs. MALONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to paytribute to the Honorable Conrad Foa, an out-standing New Yorker who has distinguishedhimself as a leader in the worlds of business,philanthropy, and civic and political affairs. AMember of the New York State DemocraticCommittee, Mr. Foa’s contributions to thecommunity were recognized at the annual din-ner gala of the Lexington Democratic Club lastmonth. As the first ‘‘reform club’’ in New YorkCity, the Lexington Democratic Club strives forinclusive civic participation in our nation’sgreatest metropolis, and Conrad Foa is aproud heir to that great reform tradition.As the Democratic State Committee Mem-ber representing the 73rd Assembly District onthe East Side of Manhattan, and as a Memberof Manhattan Community Board 8, ConradFoa has distinguished himself as a dynamicand forceful leader for his community. He andhis wife Linda Foa were both born in Manhat-tan, as were both of their sons Justin and Bar-rett. As a lifelong resident of Manhattan’sUpper East Side, Conrad Foa has volunteeredhis time and effort to maintaining and improv-ing the quality of life for his fellow Upper EastSiders, and has thrown himself in public life bytwice running for a seat in the New York StateSenate. In recognition of his outstanding lead-ership abilities, the Democratic voters of NewYork’s 73rd Assembly District elected ConradFoa to the New York State Democratic Com-mittee in 2006.Conrad Foa has also distinguished himselfas a premier leader in the insurance industry.As the principal of Chairman of Foa & Son, aleading insurance brokerage firm which nego-tiates insurance coverage on behalf of theconsumer, he ushered his family-owned enter-prise into the twenty-first century. The firm’sproud tradition is now being carried on by itsPresident, Conrad and Linda’s son Justin, whois the fifth generation Foa to head the firm,which will be celebrating its sesquicentennialanniversary next year.Conrad Foa’s leadership and achievementshave been recognized on many occasions byhis colleagues and peers. He is a past Presi-dent and Director of the Insurance Brokers As-sociation of the State of New York, and wasinstrumental in getting two pro-consumer billspassed to keep jobs and holding insurancepremiums down. He was named a member ofseveral prestigious and exclusive associationsfor business leaders, including the YoungPresidents Organization, the World PresidentsOrganization, and the Chief Executives Orga-nization. Mr. Foa is Founder of the Inter-national Executives Association and a pastPresident and Director of Executives’ Associa-tion of Greater New York, a networking organi-zation which promotes New York businesses.A dedicated philanthropist, he also served asMember of the Board of Directors of the Fed-eration of Protestant Welfare Agencies. He isa graduate of the Wharton School of Businessat the University of Pennsylvania and receiveda Master’s Degree in Economics from TheLondon School of Economics.Despite all his activity in business, civic, andpolitical life, Conrad Foa has always remaineddedicated above all to his family. He and hiswife Linda are the proud parents of their sonsJustin and Barrett, an accomplished actor andperformer, and doting grandparents to Justin’sson, Max.Mr. Speaker, I ask that my distinguishedcolleagues join me recognizing the enormouscontributions to our civic and political life madeby the Honorable Conrad Foa, a great NewYorker and a great American.

HONORING THE ACADEMIC ACCOM-PLISHMENTS OF DANIEL LAGE

HON. ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN

OF FLORIDA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN. Mr. Speaker, it givesme great pleasure to recognize a young manfrom south Florida, Daniel Lage, who hasmade headlines with his remarkable academicachievements at the young age of twenty-one.Daniel’s family history is a sadly familiarstory for many of us in south Florida; that ofbeing forced to flee the Castro dictatorship ofCuba for the land of freedom and opportunity:the United States.I too come from this same background—andI know that the struggles of his family servedto strengthen this young man’s passion to suc-ceed.There is no better path to success than thatof a driven individual pursuing a sound edu-cation.I know that Daniel demonstrated his eager-ness to learn and his matching intellect everyday in the classroom. Through his hard workand with the support of his loving family by thetime he graduated Gulliver Preparatory Schoolhe had been named Valedictorian and hadearned the prestigious Silver Knight Award.Later, Daniel was accepted into HarvardUniversity, where he has pursued a degree inhistory and science and will graduate in May.Never forgetting his roots, Daniel has been thepresident of Harvard’s Cuban American Un-dergraduate Association and remains com-mitted to the idea of a free and prosperousCuba.Daniel embodies the noble values,unshakable integrity, and sheer determinationthat we all should aspire to match. Many peo-ple and institutions have certainly taken note.Daniel has received the incredibly pres-tigious Rhodes Scholarship where he willstudy at the world renowned Oxford Universityin England. Winners are selected for many de-fining qualities including high academicachievement, personal integrity, and leader-ship potential. Impressively, he is one of onlyseventy Floridians to ever receive this scholar-ship.At Oxford, Daniel expects to pursue a Mas-ter of Science—with a focus on different na-tions’ approaches to caring for the chronicallyill. Sadly, this focus is not arbitrary, and againboth he and my family share a solemn com-mon bond. His grandfather, Eugene, was re-cently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Iknow firsthand the terrible effects of this debili-tating disease on an individual. My mother,Amanda, has been fighting a losing battleagainst the disease over these last few years.I know that my personal experiences withthis horrific disease have prompted me to takeaction in the fight against Alzheimer’s; so toohave Daniel’s experiences. He has partneredwith the Alzheimer’s Association as an advo-cate and has every intention and expectationof becoming both a physician and a policy-maker in his future. I understand this deep-seated passion for geriatric medicine and cer-tainly expect that his strong resolve will playan important part in unlocking the mysteries ofthis terrible disease and finally finding a cure.I know Daniel fully recognizes the immeas-urable value of his ongoing education, and indoing so I am confident he will accomplishmany great things for our community in southFlorida, our magnificent United States, andabove all continue to make his family im-mensely proud.So once again, Daniel, from a former Flor-ida certified teacher and a firm proponent ofeducation as a lifelong journey: I congratulateyou on all you have accomplished—you are afine example of the best and brightest in southFlorida and I wish you truly all the best on allyou hope to accomplish in the future.

THE WALK FOR HEALTHCARE:HEALTHCARE STORIES FROMWEST VIRGINIA AND PENNSYL-VANIA COLLECTED BY OGANGUREL, M.D.

HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

OF OHIO

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Thursday, January 6, 2011

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

‘‘Tom described a situation in which hewas buying two batteries for a scooter. Sincehe was paying out-of-pocket, they discountedthe price $30 below the price they chargedMedicare. ‘Something fishy is going on,’ hesaid.’’ Tom—Chester, 7/14/2009‘‘I met Sharyn at the DaVinci salon. No, Iwasn’t going in for a pedicure, which, withthe condition my feet were in wouldn’t havebeen easy anyway. Actually, she peeked outthe door and asked, ‘Are you that doctorwalking from Chicago to DC?’ and invited mein for a glass of water. Being busy with cli-ents, there was no opportunity to get anystories. But they all were supportive of theWalk. ‘We sure need healthcare reform,’Sharyn said, as her co-workers gatheredabout along with the clients reclining intheir chairs nodded in agreement.’’ Sharyn—Chester, 7/14/2009‘‘Gayla told me that she and her husbandhave been ‘very lucky.’ They’ve had em-ployer-provided insurance through Verizon—‘pretty good insurance,’ she told me. ButFrontier is buying the West Virginia assetsof the company, so in the transition, as sheput it, they have no idea what it’ll mean forthem. This is important because her stepsonhas cystic fibrosis (CF). At age 23 he’s a realsurvivor. He’s done well but lately, from aninsurance standpoint, it’s gotten very com-plicated. Based on doctor’s orders, he’sstrictly limited to very light work, at a max-imum of 30 hours a week. So essentially, asGayla told me, ‘He’s stuck with a part-timeemployment status. Insurance on his own isnot a possibility,’ she added. ‘And he can’tget SSI because he actually can work a lit-tle.’ And while Verizon promised to coverhim (as part of their employer-based cov-erage) even into adulthood, Gayla and herhusband don’t know if that agreement willbe honored by the new company. She doubtsthat it will be. It sounds like there are so

VerDate Mar 15 2010 05:43 Jan 07, 2011Jkt 099060PO 00000Frm 00008Fmt 0626Sfmt 0634E:\CR\FM\K06JA8.010E06JAPT1

p w a l k e r o n D S K D 5 P 8 2 C 1 P R O D w i t h R E M A R K S

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—

Extensions of Remarks

E23

January 6, 2011

many cracks in the system, I said. ‘Yes. It’sa real problem. And it’s not abstract—myson’s life depends on it.’’’ Gayla—Hagers-town, 7/22/2009‘‘‘I’ve got no money for insurance,’ Shir-ley, working behind the counter at Reeve’smarketplace, told me. ‘Just Medicare, prettyhealthy, I’m lucky.’ She told me how shedidn’t sign up for the AARP prescriptionmedication plan. ‘It didn’t make sense,’ shesaid. ‘AARP wasn’t really paying and theyseemed to be getting the higher priced drugsanyway.’’’ Shirley—Hookstown, 7/14/2009‘‘As I entered Pittsburgh, Deb, working thecounter at the Miley’s BP convenience store,told me she has no insurance. She’ll only goto the doctor if absolutely necessary. ‘Basi-cally,’ she told me, ‘healthcare is just notavailable.’’’ Deb—Pittsburgh, 7/15/2009‘‘Robin, whose smile brightened up my dayafter a long day walking, told me the storyabout her girlfriend in Chicago. ‘She wasdoing well, but then lost her job. She lost herhealth insurance and last year, at age 50, wasdiagnosed with multiple myeloma.’ So howdid she deal with that? ‘Well, she had tocome up with $689/month for her insurance,the hospital would not provide healthcareotherwise.’ As her condition got even moreserious, all of their mutual friends and soror-ity sisters (Delta Sigma Phi) have been rais-ing funds and sending her money for hercare. ‘I guess,’ Robin told me, ‘if it wasn’t forus, she could be dead.’ She said it withoutego or braggadocio but rather out of sadness(even with our bright smile) that it had to bethat way.’’ Robin—Pittsburgh, 7/15/2009‘‘Rhonda returned to Pennsylvania to takecare of her elderly family. She’s had self-payinsurance via Highmark, the major insurerin the Pittsburgh market. ‘It’s alright solong as you don’t get sick.’ Regarding the re-cent debates in Congress, she also added, ‘If you believe anything those execs put out,then you’re a fool.’ She had a situation lastyear of right upper-quadrant abdominal pain.She went to the ER, which was an ordeal.They started the work-up, a GI consult, sur-gical consult, ultrasound, HIDA scan wereordered and was admitted for overnight ob-servation. She told me all the tests returnednegative. And then, Highmark ended up de-nying the $7,000 for the hospital stay and allthe radiology consults deeming that it wasall medically unnecessary. ‘There was noway for me to know they wouldn’t cover it.’The hospital called for pre-approval, but theinsurance company still had denied it. ButRhonda fought it, saying either the hospitalwas practicing fraudulent medicine or thecompany was wrong. ‘They finally backed-off and paid.’ Rhonda also described a storyfrom a friend of hers who worked as a dentalassistant. She had attended a conference onbilling which the whole point of which washow to bill so the insurance company coulddeny the claim: what diagnostic categoriesto use, etc. The percentage of people whowould not fight was estimated at 70%.’’Rhonda—Pittsburgh, 7/16/2009‘‘As an ambulance driver, John definitelynotes that, ‘the uninsured come to us in amore severe state. They don’t have a familydoctor and so in the ER people end up havingto wait more because these critically ill pa-tients come in.’ He told me it was not un-common for them to wait six months to ayear before seeking any medical attention.’’John—Braddock, 7/16/2009‘‘As an EMT, Christina’s seen diabeticswithout medications coming into the ER twoto three times a week because their sugargets out of whack. They really don’t haveany health care access otherwise.’’ Chris-tina—Braddock, 7/16/2009‘‘Zenobia has to see a doctor regularly forher prescriptions. ‘It’s really hard, because Ihave no insurance,’ she said. ‘And I workhard. But since I’m part-time, Medicaid saysI’m not eligible.’ But since she’s workingonly 25 hours a week, she doesn’t apparentlyqualify for insurance through her employereither. ‘According to Medicaid, you’re work-ing,’ she said. But according to her em-ployer, ‘You’re not working.’ The cracks inthe system she was facing, seemed, from herexpression, to be more like gaping chasms,with no way out. When she heard public as-sistance was no longer available for her, shecalled them, crying, ‘Why have I beendropped?’ To which they answered, ‘Youmake more than $200 a month.’ So she makesdo with a hodge-podge of different programsand deals. She’s able to keep her medicationbill down to $60 a month because the phar-macy has a special plan but her variousother medical bills have accumulated toclose to $6,000. ‘It’s all a mess, all so com-plicated,’ she told me. ’And if I really gethurt, I’m pretty much screwed.’’’ Zenobia—North Braddock, 7/16/2009‘‘At the tail end of a monstrous thunder-storm, seeking some shelter, even though Iwas soaking wet anyway, I met Mary at theWendy’s just west of Greensburg. She wasthere with her daughter and grandson. Wetalked about the Walk and about health carereform. Mary shared with me the story of her son, Jim. ‘He works in a plant nursery.He’s got no insurance but suffers from sym-pathetic dystrophy, you know what that is,right?’ Yes, I replied. ‘He’s self-pay but basi-cally he just suffers in pain. It breaks myheart.’’’ Mary—Greensburg, 7/17/2009‘‘‘You can reach out for help, but if youhave no health insurance you’re nobody.’That’s how Rebecca concluded the story shetold me about the death of her boyfriend. It’sa complicated story but basically the 24-year-old was off and on in a Methadone rehabprogram. He was doing well in rehab whenhis treatment was about 1/2 done, his insur-ance ran out. Because of this, ‘The rehab fa-cility, kicked him out,’ Rebecca told me. Sheexplained how, with withdrawal symptomskicking in, he arrived home very sick. Twodays later, near-comatose he was taken tothe hospital where he was admitted to theICU with liver failure but, according to Re-becca, they, ‘really didn’t do anything.’ Atthe time of his death, she said, with incredu-lity, that the staff was joking in front of her,laughing even. The trauma continued, evenafter his death. She described how the cor-oner came in and started accusing people.‘Then a doctor arrived, and asked if the dece-dent had insurance.’ Rebecca shook her head.‘No, I answered. And the doctor asked if Iwanted to see the body. I said, yes, but hetold me that they had taken it away to makeroom for the next body.’ Rebecca told me itwas all very sarcastic and cruel. But thenightmare was not over. Then the bills start-ed arriving. They were not married but therehab center (which kicked him out) and thehospital demanded payment. ‘They fraudu-lently indicated that I signed the bills,’ saidRebecca. ‘It’s been two years now andthey’re still sending bills. Between the doc-tor and the financial games, I never had achance to grieve over his death.’ Rebecca’seyes saddened as I asked her to sign for herconsent. ‘You can reach out for help, but if you have no health insurance you’re no-body.’’’ Rebecca—Greensburg, 7/17/2009‘‘Ryan is a young American. 24 years old,sporting an unassuming t-shirt and buzz cut,he exudes a personality simultaneously re-served and forthright. He has a gracioussmile, offered with a twist of the head butthen when he looks at you, with a piercinggaze, his face turns serious. As a writer, heseeks to deeply understand people, yet somethings, like healthcare insurance, elude evenhis keen comprehension. Brought up in afamily who never had health insurance,Ryan is, nevertheless, a man with energeticambitions. After an early honorable dis-charge from the Army—for medical rea-sons—and a fruitless search for a job, he isworking to finish his first novel, Ever StreetRoad, a parable, as he calls it, for the choicesin life that one makes. Yet, in this greatcountry, bursting with infinite possibility,Ryan has few, if any, choices. Infinitudemeets finitude—this is America. The futureis but an illusion. Not knowing whetherthere will be healthcare for all or onlyhealthcare for some, Ryan and I, sharing din-ner, are focused on the present and the past.This is the only thing we truly know. The fu-ture, a future where the young ambitions of earnest, yet thwarted souls, might reachtheir full potential, is only a dream. Realityis how I met Ryan and what brought him torun up the hill to meet me on US 30 as 18-wheelers thundered past. Just east of NorthVersailles, about 25 miles beyond my initialwalking point, the last few miles trundled onthrough with pain. My feet—a jumble of col-lapsing arches, exploding blisters, and hem-orrhaging nail beds—were beyond rebellion. Iwould have ordinarily arranged a pick-up totake me to the next hotel—now about eightmiles east—but this had not materialized.And the transport for the bag—the 70 poundsuitcased monstrosity—from which I live,had not been arranged. And despite the phys-ical tribulations of walking nearly 24 miles aday, the most challenging part of the Walkhas been the logistics. Lodging, pick-up(often the bunk down place is not necessarilyon my walking route), and bag transport hadall to be arranged. If any one of these ele-ments fell through, the Walk would come toa standstill. At this point, I was not worriedso much about that. With the sun now set-ting, knowing that I would soon be walkingin the dark—the time when sounds becomemore important than sights—I was worriedabout my survival, concerned about arrivingat the motel—if I made it at all—well aftermidnight. At the bottom of the hill, I hadstopped at a McDonald’s to replenish myself with water and recharge my phone batteries.I slipped on my safety vest and grimly head-ed up the hill. A young man, gasping forbreath, came up beside me. Cars rushed byand instinctively motioned him towards thenarrow shoulder. ‘Are ... are you DoctorGurel?’ he asked, wide-eyed, disbelieving. Iwas on the phone, still working feverishly toarrange transport of my bag. Too tired to besurprised, I smiled at him, and nodded. ‘I wasfollowing you on Twitter and ... and I justhad to come and meet you.’ I hung up thephone, and out of habit continued on for-ward, as the young man joined me. ‘I’mRyan, Ryan Trump,’ he added. Oh yes! FromFacebook! ‘Yes,’ he said, his face twisting,searching for words to describe a situationfor which there was no precedent. ‘Wow, Ican’t believe this.’ What? ‘That I met youhere.’ I chuckled. ‘Crazy, isn’t it?’ Ryan andI had exchanged some e-mails during thepast few weeks on Facebook, and it wasstrange indeed that an entirely electronicfriendship had materialized here on the not-so-isolated Lincoln Highway east of Pitts-burgh. And so we talked—talked with amaze-ment about the GPS tracking technologythat had brought Ryan to my very spot. Wetalked about healthcare. But I had to inter-rupt him. Ryan, I have a problem. ‘What’sthat?’ My motel is about seven miles up, inIrwin. I have no pick-up to get there. Couldyou help out? ‘That’s the least I can do!’ Ismiled weakly. Deliverance, in the form of Ryan Trump, shy but forthright, graciousbut ambitious, had arrived. I was grateful forthe wonders of technology and even more forthe grace of initiative and real, not elec-tronic, fellowship. And so, after a couple of hours of back-and-forth driving, Ryan and I

VerDate Mar 15 2010 05:43 Jan 07, 2011Jkt 099060PO 00000Frm 00009Fmt 0626Sfmt 0634E:\CR\FM\K06JA8.011E06JAPT1

p w a l k e r o n D S K D 5 P 8 2 C 1 P R O D w i t h R E M A R K S

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—

Extensions of Remarks

E24

January 6, 2011

delivered the suitcase and myself to themotel in Irwin. But that was the present.The following evening I had dinner withRyan and we talked about the past. Thepresent and the past: while this is what weknow, we spoke out of hope for the future. Afuture with healthcare for all, and not justfor some. A future where the imagined infini-tude of possibilities cross with the crushingreality of no possibility. ‘My family hasnever had health insurance,’ Ryan told me.‘My father worked in maintenance at thehospital for 36 years. And we never hadhealth insurance but we could get carethrough the hospital.’ That’s good, I replied.‘Then the hospital closed, back in 2006, andhe got laid off ... but he was close to retire-ment anyway.’ So what do you do now? ‘It’sdifficult. My mom’s got a heart condition,had a heart attack back in 2000. You know itcould always happen again. She’s got fourtypes of drugs.’ How do you pay for it? ‘It’sall out-of-pocket.’ But you told me that youhad troubles with the bank. ‘That’s just theway it goes—you pay for the medicationswhen you can.’ I shook my head. And howabout for you? What’s it like to not have in-surance? Ryan, who would usually lookstraight at me with those forthright, almostaggressive eyes, glanced down. ‘Well, you gotaches and pains, but you think, do I dealwith the pain or do I go to the hospital andsuffer accumulated debt? I’m 24 years oldand my credit score is probably garbage.Can’t do anything in life with that, youknow.’ I figured, listening between the lines,that Ryan had, in fact, gotten somehealthcare, and the ‘accumulated debt’ hehad referred to was real. How’s the asthma?I asked. (This was the reason for the honor-able, medical discharge from the service.)‘Oh, that’s not too bad. But there was thisother situation.’ What was that? Ryanthought for a moment, then looked up. ‘Well,I had a lump,’ he said, pointing below thetable. 24 year old young man, I realized thathe was likely referring to testicular cancer—a condition made widely known by LanceArmstrong’s experience, and survival. Didyou get it checked out? ‘Well, I was holdingoff for the longest time. But it was quicklygetting bigger.’ My heart sank, but the factof the rapid enlargement, encouragingly sug-gested to me that it wasn’t cancer. And? ‘SoI did go to the doctor eventually.’ Ryansmiled and sighed. ‘He said it was some sortof hydrocele.’ Oh yes, that’s good news.‘They did an ultrasound ... and, of course,I got all the bills. There was no way I couldpay for them so I didn’t even open them up.’An odd mix, a contradiction even, that withthe wonderful news—namely that one did nothave cancer—there came delivered a messageof debt peonage that inspired even more de-spair than the dreaded diagnosis itself. Itwas almost as if the healthcare system itself was the cancer.’’ Ryan—Greensburg, 7/17/2009‘‘Bob has worked for the government for 44years. He told me that he’s always hadhealth insurance (BC/BS via the governmentplan). ‘Why is it not possible to make thatavailable to all?’ he wondered. ‘It’s the sameplan as that for Congressmen and Senators.’He added that it was a big pool and that ‘itwould bring in younger people, make the in-surance for all more affordable.’ But, he ex-plained, ‘It’s different with corporate Amer-ica. I’m retired now but I still get the samecoverage as those who are still employed ingovernment.’’’ Bob—Greensburg, 7/18/2009‘‘Terry’s here in Greensburg visiting fromPhiladelphia. She shared with me the storyof her mother’s untimely death, which re-sulted, in her estimation, from a night-marish confluence of administrative barriersand inhumane insurance policies. The storygoes as follows. Her mother underwent aliver biopsy. This was on a Friday. As Terryexplained to me, ’She was done as an out-patient, but even though the surgeon said itwas complicated, with bleeders, she was notpermitted by her insurance to stay over-night.’ She returned home for the weekend.On Sunday, she went to the emergency roomwith escalating pain but was sent homeagain being told it was a gallbladder prob-lem. The pain still unbearable, she returnedto the ER within three hours. ‘From what welearned,’ Terry said, ‘there was a blood clotpressing on the bile duct.’ She progressedrapidly downhill from there ending up three-and-a-half weeks in the ICU (battling sepsis).Six weeks after the biopsy she died. Terryfinished the story. ‘If only the insurance hadbeen more flexible, had considered true med-ical necessity, in observing my mother thefirst night after her procedure, perhaps shewould still be with us now.’’’ Terry—Greens-burg, 7/19/2009‘‘‘I haven’t had health insurance since ’92,’Ed told me, when I asked him if he had anyhealthcare stories. ‘That’s when BethlehemSteel closed down—so, no insurance, for me.’I nodded. I can understand. I don’t have in-surance either. I don’t think Ed really heardme as he continued, ‘I’m glad I’m healthy be-cause if not, I’d be dead.’ Ed plays quite a bitof soccer (he’s wearing his soccer t-shirtnow) and he told me of an injury he had afew years back. He got hit pretty hard at asoccer game at the Y. ‘Got myself a gash onmy head and some sort of shoulder injury.’And so he went to the emergency room.When he told them he lacked insurance, Edtold me that the doctor basically said,‘Stitch him up and send him home.’ Ed hadan angry look on his face. ‘I got 27 stitchesbut they did nothing about my shoulder.’ Isuppose I could understand his displeasure aswith all that he got a bill for $2,300. ‘I stillhaven’t paid it, and I never will be able to,’he said. Despite these distressing stories, Edwas not really as sour as his tale would makehim to be. We talked about quite a few othertopics and he wished me well on my journey,closing in now, on Washington, DC.’’ Ed—Stoystown, 7/19/2009‘‘Karl, a volunteer Ambassador at theFlight 93 Memorial, told me he doesn’t be-lieve in a government-run system. Accordingto him, the free-market is the best though heacknowledged that having insurance linkedto employment was a problem. ‘Empower theindividual,’ Karl explained to me. So howabout your own situation, I asked. ‘We’re notwell-to-do,’ he said. ‘I get my health insur-ance from the state, a plan called SpecialCare which is in between Medicaid and pri-vate insurance.’ And how’s it going withthat? ‘Very well actually,’ he answered. ‘It’snot connected to employment status so Ihave the freedom to change jobs withoutchanging my health coverage.’ [On a sidenote, Karl, in his presentation to the thirtysome-odd gathered visitors at the memorialexplained how about $40 million more wasneeded to complete the permanent Flight 93Memorial. I recalled how anti-reform indus-try groups were spending (as reported by theWall Street Journal) about $1.4 million a dayin their selfish and grasping efforts tothwart (or worse manipulate) healthcare re-form. That means that about a month of that spending (the time it took for me towalk from Chicago to DC) would cover theremaining cost of the Memorial—a tribute,as most know, to Americans who gave thelast full measure of sacrifice for their fellowcitizens.]’’ Karl—Shanksville, 7/19/2009‘‘Kay’s a part-owner of a small business—all of three people. Because of the high costof health insurance, the deductibles, and allthat, ’they’ve got no discretionary income,’she told me. They’re with Highmark and thepremium went up $100 a month within thepast few months alone. Her husband has hadtwo heart surgeries (done at the ClevelandClinic). The cost was $4,000 a day but theyended up paying $700. ‘That was a relief,’ shesaid. ‘But we’re lucky. We can affordhealthcare insurance—barely—but thatleaves us with no extra money.’ Clearly up-to-date on various health reform proposals,she added, ‘It would be nice if I could deductit as a tax credit. But here’s the real prob-lem,’ Kay continued. ‘If my husband—or I—couldn’t work then we wouldn’t be able tomaintain the income to pay for any insur-ance. How will we be able to pay for healthinsurance when we actually need it most?That’s what doesn’t make sense.’ I wasreadying to leave when Kay interrupted.‘One more thing. I think much of these pre-mium monies are being wasted.’ How so? Iasked. ‘I went to a Pirates game and theywere giving out free bobblehead dolls. Guesswho sponsored all that?’ Who? ‘Highmark.That’s where health insurance premiumsgo—to advertising.’ And so my experiencecame full circle as I recalled the giantHighmark billboards scattered among Pitts-burgh’s downtown when I had been there fourdays earlier.’’ Kay—Bedford, 7/20/2009‘‘I met with Eric in Jim’s living room (atthe home where I stayed that night). Jimhad invited several neighbors to stop by fora discussion of healthcare reform and Ericwas gracious enough to share his story withme. First, he does not have health insurance.He looked into it, reviewed the policies fromthree companies and saw that there was es-sentially no difference among them. ‘It was80/20 coverage and no doctors were covered,’he told me. The premiums started off at $300a month and went up to $900 a month withina year. ‘Worse than the cable company!’ Andso he dropped the coverage. As it turns out,Eric did have a serious health issue lastyear—a pituitary adenoma (a form of benign,but still very dangerous, brain tumor). Onemorning he woke up nearly blind—all hecould see was a tiny pin-prick of light (an ex-treme form of a condition called ‘tunnel vi-sion’). He had himself taken to the emer-gency room. To make a long story short, hewas treated at UPMC. He told me ‘Hersheyrefused to talk because he had no insurance.’Being without insurance, he now, after allwas said and done, owed $160,000. He was ableto make deals with the doctors but the hos-pital, he told me, ‘was never cooperative—amonster to deal with. And there was no nego-tiation.’ He told me about his ongoing strug-gles with the hospital. ‘And the billing wasso strange,’ he added. As someone whochecks things out carefully, he told me howan MRI at UPMC cost $7,000 but the samescan, on the same machine, cost $2,000 in thenearby town of Altoona. ‘And a single Ty-lenol pill cost $10! It’s a crazy system.’’’Eric—Bedford, 7/20/2009‘‘Gloria is the owner of Hollinshead gro-cery. She told me how the grocery, a familybusiness, has been in Harrisonville for over ahundred years. Being self-employed, shehasn’t had health coverage for more thantwenty years, ever since her husband’s com-pany went out of business. ‘It’s just too ex-pensive to get insurance being self-em-ployed,’ she told me. Three years ago, herhusband had a heart attack and died. She ex-plained that paying for his care, even in themidst of grieving, was not easy. ‘A Harris-burg doctor accepted a payment plan,’ andshe also applied for Hill-Burton funds to payfor testing and other hospital costs. ‘Thingswere not easy,’ she added, with a touch of melancholy.’’ Gloria—Harrisonville, 7/21/2009‘‘Mike, a customer at Hollinshead’s Gro-cery, lost his job at Caterpillar in Februaryand is now without insurance. ‘COBRA wasmuch too expensive,’ he said. His unemploy-ment check was $325 a week and health cov-erage cost over $400 a month. His children,