HEARING - U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging

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tell me how you could have theoretically managed your resources
so you would be covered today. I think the answer is that there is
no way you could have done it.
Mrs. RIEGER. There is another thing I forgot about insurance. I
took out two or three medical policies, and I took them to my
family doctor to look over. And he said,
Edith, I hate to tell you this, but with your high blood pressure, no matter what
comes up, the insurance company is going to throw it right back, that it was due to
your high blood pressure, and you are not going to get a thing.
Senator PRESSLER. I think that illustrates another point I was
going to make. I know that Governor Lamb of Colorado has written
a book saying we cannot provide everything to everybody, that we
have to make choices. But I think the witnesses today are very
good because they illustrate that they are not getting heart transplants
or that sort of thing. They are getting what all of us would
hope to get-normal treatment-and there is nothing extraordinary
about what is happening to these sick men that would not
happen to anybody. I think all of these people are in the category
of people who would not even be in Governor Lamb's extreme decisions
that he says have to be made.
So that it is a problem that this <strong>Committee</strong> has to face. We have
to face up to it. A lot of Americans are in severe trouble, people
working, as you are working at age 68-and I hope I will still be
able to be working at age 68, even just indoor work like this, and
no heavy lifting.
It is a severe problem, and we have got to address it. Now, Secretary
Bowen has a plan that if people were to pay $5 or $10 extra a
month, a lot of these things would be covered. Of course, I do not
think all your cases would be covered. I would like to see staff also
give a comparison.
Mr. Chairman, later can we get a little chart from staff that
would show if Secretary Bowen's plan, and we will have him here
Wednesday, if this were in effect, would these particular cases be
covered? Would this case be covered? Would this lady be sitting
here if Secretary Bowen's proposal were in effect? I
Could staff answer that, or could we maybe get that later? You
are an expert, Mr. Chairman.
Chairman MELCHER. Well, I and Senator Kennedy introduced the
bill to implement what we believe the Bowen proposal would do
and what Dr. Bowen says it would do. It would not cover this circumstance
in that long-term health care is not provided for.
Now, whether or not it would cover Mrs. Rieger's particular case
in paying for the high blood pressure medication, I would hope it
would, but we need to know what the Bowen proposal would actually
do, because we hope to have it on the <strong>Senate</strong> Floor sometime
this year, and we will have to know all the ins and outs of it. I am
looking forward to Dr. Bowen's explanation about what his proposal
will do when he testifies before the <strong>Committee</strong> on Wednesday.
Senator Wilson.
'See transcript of January 28, 1987 joint hearing between the House Select <strong>Committee</strong> on
Aging and the <strong>Senate</strong> <strong>Special</strong> <strong>Committee</strong> on Aging.