Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 1, 1994 TAG: 9402010077
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
She spends more than $200 a month on prescription drugs. Twice a day, she takes as many as eight medications.
By the time she pays for medicine, household bills and a home-care service that allows her to continue living at her Roanoke home, there is not much left, she says. Moving to a nursing home is out of the question.
"I just don't want to," she says. "If I can stay home and die in bed, I'll be happy."
Last week, Johnson told members of Congress of her plight. Seated in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill under the glare of television lights, Johnson delivered a message in support of health-care reform.
Johnson was one of 50 people - one from each state - who testified at what was billed "Health of the Union," an event sponsored by HealthRIGHT, a coalition of national organizations concerned about health care. Johnson was the oldest of the speakers.
"It was one of the best things I've ever done," Johnson said. "I wasn't nervous, not one bit. I said what I had to say, and then I sat down. Well, I was already sitting down, in a wheelchair."
For all of her ailments, all of her difficulties, Johnson said she was humbled by the stories of the 49 others who testified.
She watched as a victim of multiple sclerosis who had lost use of his limbs maneuvered his motorized wheelchair under a microphone. She listened to a woman talk of selling her house to pay for her son's bone-marrow transplant. Another woman, awaiting a heart transplant, spoke of more than $50,000 in medical bills and stress on her family.
"It made me thankful for what I've got," Johnson said.
Johnson has lived alone in her Northwest Roanoke home since her husband's death two years ago. Three times a week, a home-care aide from Family Service of Roanoke Valley comes in to cook, clean and do laundry. On other days, the aide calls to ensure that Johnson is OK.
Johnson's message to Congress homed in on home care, services that are not covered by health insurance, but that allow people to remain in their homes.
From a prepared statement, Johnson read:
"I am Beulah Johnson from Roanoke, Virginia. I'm diabetic and take many medications. The price of them seems awfully high to me. If I didn't have a home-care aide to look after me, I'd be in a nursing home. I used to work in a nursing home, and I can tell you, your own home - with your own things, your own food, your own neighborhood - is the best place to be, if you can manage it. I hope the government will let people be cared for in their homes, if that's where they want to be."
Many of the people who testified last week spoke of the lack of insurance coverage for at-home health-care services, said Kathleen Brown, director of public affairs for HealthRIGHT.
"They tried to persuade Congress and the administration that people like to stay in their homes to recuperate from illnesses or to live healthy productive lives," Brown said. "Many of the services needed to keep people in their homes are not covered."
HealthRIGHT traveled the 50 states last summer on its "Speak Out America Tour" to collect citizen views on health-care reform.
HealthRIGHT staff members met Johnson when they stopped in Roanoke in August. Their interview with her, videotaped in Johnson's living room, became part of a grass-roots video "petition" and led to her selection as Virginia's representative at the "Health of the Union" event.
Johnson said she was grateful for the opportunity.
"I hope some good comes out of it," she said. "I wish I could do more.
"It doesn't seem like one person can do much; maybe 50 can."
by CNB