Senate Proceeding 11-03-09 on Nov 3rd, 2009 :: 3:50:20 to 3:54:50
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3:50:08 to 3:50:29( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: room until they're really, really sick. then what happens is they go to intensive care or something like this or they have a much more serious illness and go on for weeks and months in intensive care, and the price just goes up and up and up? mr. cardin: the senator from delaware is absolutely right. there's been studies done showing two individuals with the same condition, one with

3:50:20 to 3:54:50( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Benjamin L. Cardin

3:50:30 to 3:50:51( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: insu insurance. the person that doesn't have insurance actually uses more health care services than someone who does have insurance for the reason you said, the person with health insurance will get preventive health care, earlier screening, will have the condition under control, will?? take their blood pressure medicines, will take their cholesterol medicines, will have the test that will discover an

3:50:52 to 3:51:12( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: illness at an earlier stage or may even prevent an illness which can be done, for example, with colon cancer by discovering a polyp before it becomes cancerous. a person who has no health insurance doesn't get those services so they enter the system in a much more costly way which may lead to hospitalization that would not have been necessary if they would have entered the health

3:51:13 to 3:51:33( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: care system at an but they can't because ty have no health insurance. the senator is absolutely right. one of the things we do is try to help those families who have health insurance. so we do it in another we end insurance company abuses, a very important point. th package that we're looking at will end health insurance company abuses.

3:51:34 to 3:51:54( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: all the bills that have been reported out of committee do that. so that you can't be denied coverage due to preexisting conditions. no more annual or on ben can't charge more or drop your coverage if you requires ful preventive care and checkups.

3:51:55 to 3:52:16( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: w, mr. pre received -- i'm sure my colleagues have received a lot of letters from people in our district. i just really want to tell you how important these health insurance reforms will be in helping middle-income families. i'll give you one example, and i'm sure my colleagues can cite others. here's a letter i received last month from kevin who lives in

3:52:17 to 3:52:37( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: kensington in montgomery county, maryland. kevin is a healthy nonsmoking 50-year-old father who was laid off. he recently started his own company. he has two high school age children. kevin completed the marine corps marathon and has been an arid runner and swimmer all his life. i dare say that most of us cannot do that. after kevin was laid off, all four family members applied for

3:52:38 to 3:52:59( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: coverage in the individual market. however, kevin and his two children were denied access to comprehensive coverage because of preexisting conditions. listen to this. kevin was denied coverage because the insurance company said that he had a history of upper respiratory seufpl tomorrows. actually -- symptoms.

3:53:00 to 3:53:20( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: kevin has only had two chest colds in the last six years. five years ago tests showed a very small amount of scar tissu in his lungs, but doctors have concluded this is not a health issue or risk. and yet, he was denied coverage because of preexisting conditions. no more if we get health

3:53:21 to 3:53:44( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: insurance reform passed, because insurance companies will not be able to discriminate based upon preexisting conditions that don't even exist in kevin's case. but it goes further. kevin's daughter's coverage excludes benefits related to any injury to any part of her back. this is because she once had a minor slipped disk which has not caused her pain in more than two and a half years.

3:53:45 to 3:54:06( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: this is a common condition among teenage girls but the insurance company is refusing to cover back injury. her doctor has written to the insurance company stating that she has no more likelihood of needing medical services than any other patient her age. yet, today kevin is denied coverage, full coverage for his daughter. it gets even worse.

3:54:07 to 3:54:27( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: kevin's son also was refused coverage for his knee because he had diagnosis with growing pain that required no treatment. this means that kevin's son will not be covered for any injury to his knee at any time in the future. now, kevin writes, "we have a healthy, physically active family. no doubt, healthier and in

3:54:28 to 3:54:48( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: better shape than 98% of the families in this country, and we were told that three of the four of us are at too great of a risk for full coverage. we are victims of a health care system that is horribly broken, and our experiences trying to?? get health insurance for our family. the family has no chronic health conditions requiring health care

3:54:49 to 3:54:51( Edit History Discussion )

Benjamin L. Cardin: treatment has turned into a