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Donna Smith is one of the "stars" of SiCKO whose family became medically bankrupt even though both she and her husband both always carried health insurance.  Then he had three heart attacks and she had cancer...and the insurance companies bailed out.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Since 2003, House Resolution 676, Medicare for All, has been open for co-sponsorship and debate.  The universal, single-payer health care measure has yet to be debated or even fully considered by Congress, but its chief architect and sponsor remains undaunted and steadfastly committee to seeing HR676 move forward and become the law of our land.

A long and difficult fight is not a deterrent for Rep. and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers, Jr., D-Mich.  At the age of 78 and with 43 years of Congressional experience, African American Congressman and national leader, Conyers walked into the House Judiciary hearing chambers with confidence, grace and pride.

Those of us waiting to offer testimony about medical debt and bankruptcy and the financial trauma felt by families facing medical crisis throughout the nation were greeted warmly and though the press did not find their way to the hearing en masse, the gallery was packed with people interested in the topic.

I’m not going to press-bash here, as usually, if the topic and the event have been presented in the right way, press folks will come.  In my old role as a daily newspaper editor, my assessment of what warranted a reporter and/or photographer’s time and energy was based on many factors, including how the topic might interest readers and who would be presenting or performing at the touted event.  If a passionate promoter of an event or cause called me – as an editor – and made a cogent case for coverage, I usually sent someone. So, somehow, this event’s promotion missed the mark for producers and editors.

So, it’s my turn, as one of those testifying, to make the case now that the press missed one great opportunity for prime time, front-page worthy news.

In the case of Rep. Conyers’ hearing on Tuesday, July 17, those testifying certainly were worthy of attention and the topic was one of direct impact to millions:  medical bills and medical crisis are driving many, many Americans to financial ruin and bankruptcy.  Many mainstream media giants are giving attention to health care issues in acknowledgement that this is the single domestic issue most worrying a majority of Americans.  While the immigration battle is also an important domestic concern, life and death issues are being decided daily on the health care front, Americans are seeing premiums rise and coverage lag and the overall economy is absorbing huge costs due to health care.

So in sauntered these dapper, elderly gentlemen, Rep. Conyers, to lead an afternoon’s proceedings of fire and passion, statistical commentary and academic debate on the nation’s number one domestic issue.  And the press stayed away – perhaps covering the setting up of cots for the all-nighter the Senate would later pull to discuss the Iraq war.

Trust me, the sexier story and the Congressional activity with the most potential for long-term impact happened in Rayburn 2141, where the House Judiciary sub-committee on commercial and administrative law convened its proceedings.

These were the first official proceedings to include direct testimony from Americans to Congress about how HR676 might improve the nation’s situation, and Conyers reminded all present that the proceedings were “historic” in that regard.

The entire video of the hearing is available on the House Judiciary website for those who wish to watch it, but I hope to give you a feel from my perspective as a witness and some ideas for follow-up to re-engage the press and to reach more people who want to tell their stories to Congress. In that Congressional hearing room, I was wrapped in a robe of support and decency, first by Rep. Conyers warm welcome and then by some of the others who testified and audience members that included nurses (many representing the California Nurses Association), health care reform (Marilyn Clement, national coordinator for HealthCare-Now) and anti-war activists (including the Code Pink gang), and others I have met along my path to the hearing.

The sub-committee chairwoman, Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., opened the hearing with kind introductions of each of us and a few of the ground rules.

I was asked to testify because my health care costs during my family’s health care crisis drove me to financial ruin and eventually to bankruptcy.

My testimony is also online at the House Judiciary website, so feel free to read or watch the entire testimony or parts thereof.

But one of the most important points to note about my financial demise was and is that my family never went without health insurance coverage. Many Americans who now relax thinking that their health insurance coverage, perhaps through their employers as ours was, will protect them from our fate are wrong and could end up where we did.

There was loud applause when I finished. I clutched one of my late father’s hankies to my mouth to keep from letting out chokes of agony that have been held in for 20 years and now were being released through sharing the pain with those who could have stopped our suffering. I looked back at the nurses, I looked back at my husband and daughter, and I looked at Mr. Conyers. Though I had admonished each and every one of them for their lack of progress on health care reform, he looked back at me with approval and with love.

Next up were the folks who do not concur that medical debt is a big cause for crisis or bankruptcy in America.  They did not call me a liar but they did lean toward seeing my family’s financial demise as one of those few, “unfortunate” cases that will happen in any system. Clifford White, director of the Executive Offices of the U.S. Trustees, said there just were not enough official statistics to draw a correlation between medical crisis and bankruptcy, and Todd Zywicki of George Mason University School of Law said that the academic study that made a connection between medical debt and bankruptcy was flawed.  They were both fairly dry, but also purposeful in their remarks.  They both wanted nothing to do with promoting any sort of movement toward HR676 based on bankruptcy data.

Seated directly to my left was a self-assured but gentle professor named Dr. Elizabeth Warren from Harvard Law School who is an expert on medical debt, financial crisis and bankruptcy.  She cried softly when I finished my testimony, told me that my testimony was the best she’d heard and then quickly dabbed her tears and offered her own intelligent and powerful testimony about what studies of families like mine shows:  medical debt is driving many people over the financial edge.

Next up was Mark Rukavina of the Access Project in Boston where individuals and families often seek help when crushing medical debt threatens their credit, their ability to meet basic living expenses and continue paying for medical needs. He was a kind spirit but also offered testimony filled with information about average American families struggling with financial concerns while also battling illness.  His words were both comforting as affirmation of my situation not being so very different from lots of other Americans and disconcerting for the same reasons.

A strong and purposeful man dressed unassumingly in relaxed clothing and looking very much like a doctor I would like to see was up next. Dr. David Himmelstein of Harvard, also participated in the study about medical bills and bankruptcy, but he also offered the insights of a man directly involved in patient care and who has seen his share of tragedy related to the current for-profit health care system in the U.S.  He even held up a hospital gown to illustrate what most insurance plans offer (a large gap) in terms of real coverage for most Americans who hold them.

After each of us testified individually, it was time for questions from the sub-committee members.  Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah, asked several good questions, but seemed pretty clear in his stance not to support an overhaul of the health care system such as is proposed in HR676.  He did not state that directly, but he did object to my assertion that Congress has failed to act on health care reform.  He told me it’s a complex issue, as if I didn’t already know that.

During the course of questioning, Dr. Himmelstein shared that his father had been part of the team that earned a Nobel Prize in Medicine for their work on cardiac catheterization techniques.  (That prize was awarded in 1956, and Dr. Aaron Himmelstein was one of the researchers associated with the prize-winning studies.)  How wonderful, I thought.  I am testifying on a panel with a man whose dad helped develop one of the procedures that has saved my husband’s life.  And that research was done using government research funds – not private dollars.  Again, research will not be halted under an HR676 plan.

The questioning went on for some time as committee members came in and out and had to go back to the House floor for votes. Rep. Trent Franks, R-Arizona, stopped by to make sure everyone knew he does not support any universal health care plan like HR676.  Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wanted to hear is the witnesses think the U.S. has the best health care in the world.

He got answers with mixed opinions.

Representatives Hank Johnson, D-Georgia, William Delahunt, D-Mass., and Zoe Lofgen, D-Calif., were also at the hearing along with a few other Congressional members who stopped by for portions of the testimony and follow-up. 

All-in-all, it was, as Chairman Conyers promised, a historic hearing. It was a hearing during which one American got the chance to tell her truth and her story so that they might more fully consider the plight of their constituents.  They heard from brilliant minds and care providers committed to changing a system that is nothing like that which the Congressional members enjoy. And all the while, the calm, confident Congressmen Conyers from Michigan watched confidently and compassionately. He’s been around long enough and sees so much that he could easily let the rest of his career play out calmly and without fireworks.  But that wouldn’t be what John Conyers is all about.  And this is a fight he intends to win.

Write your Member of Congress. Ask him/her to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 676:

Congressional Co-Sponsors
How to Write to Them

Click here to contact Ms. Smith and Healthcare-NOW.

Click here to read any of the articles in this special BC series on Single-Payer Healthcare.