ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, October 28, 1996 TAG: 9610280036
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
THE McCOYS sometimes go without the medicines they need because they can't afford the gas to go pick them up.
Lourine McCoy used to work for the AT&T plant in Fairlawn and had "real good insurance" for her and her husband, Aubrey.
But the plant closed in 1990, and because the McCoys' health had deteriorated, they ended up having to live on $810 a month from Social Security and disability income.
The McCoys live in the New River Valley community of McCoy, named for Aubrey's family. But they no longer own the home where they live.
When Lourine found out that the AT&T plant was going to close, the couple gave the single-story frame house to their children with the provision that they could live there for the rest of their lives.
"That was security for us," Lourine said.
By not owning any property, the McCoys became eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, which cover all of their health care needs, except medications.
And that's a problem. Together, they take 10 different medications a day.
Lourine, 61, has suffered for years from arthritis and a heart condition. In April, she had a medical emergency and ended up at a hospital where tests showed she had diabetes.
"We need prescription cards," Lourine said.
The McCoys can't afford the $300 to $400 monthly fee for supplemental health insurance that would pay for the medicine, so they make do with samples from their doctor and the rest they buy at a discount on Tuesday nights at the New River Valley Free Clinic.
In 1995, the free clinic filled 10,700 prescriptions valued at $342,000, said executive director Mark Cruise. The McCoys are not alone, he said.
Aubrey McCoy was a self-employed trucker who had three back operations before he retired in 1985 at age 62. Strokes have left him partially paralyzed on the right side. He has palsy in his left arm and hand. His feet are crippled from arthritis.
Even if Lourine could work, she couldn't afford to; it would mean she'd have to hire someone to stay with Aubrey.
"It's not that we haven't paid our taxes all through the years and been honest. If you're honest, you get cut down," she said.
The McCoys' budget is so strained that using the gas to make the 14-mile trip to Christiansburg to pick up medicine becomes a difficult decision, Lourine says. Sometimes they go without medicine. At least, Lourine does.
"I won't let Aubrey do without because he's older," she said.
The McCoys pay the insurance and taxes on the house and have paid to have it rewired. By the time they cover household bills each month, Lourine says, they have $150 left to buy groceries and clothes.
"We never expected to be the way we are right now, with not enough money to buy medicine," Lourine said. "If the refrigerator breaks, we have to ask the kids for help. We just don't have it."
Here's what the congressional candidates from the 9th District say about access to health care and their reaction to the McCoys' concerns:
* Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, says Medicare should cover the cost of prescription medicines for people like the McCoys. He also is concerned about the lack of health insurance in general in his district. Nationwide, 17 percent of the population is uninsured; in the 9th District, 25 percent of the people don't have insurance.
Boucher wants private health insurance made available to those residents, while at the same time he acknowledges that escalating health care costs have driven up the price of health insurance.
* Republican candidate Patrick Muldoon of Giles County also wants the market, not government, to control health care costs. The way to make that happen, he says, is for citizens to exercise their right to vote. He also sees community groups, such as the New River Valley Hospice, as a vehicle for keeping health costs down.
"With affordable health care choices, the McCoys, and not Washington bureaucrats, can tailor their health care to suit their personal needs," Muldoon said.
* Virginia Independent Party candidate Tom Roberts of Blacksburg says citizens can look at the troubles with Social Security and Medicare as evidence that government can't solve the health care problem. Citizens need to take part in solving the problems for "our common future," Roberts said.
Lourine McCoy agrees with the candidates that citizens need to speak up and take action. She has done that by revealing her situation during fund-raising campaigns for community service agencies.
"She's been a good spokeswoman," said Cruise of the New River clinic where McCoy gets her medicines.
But most of all, Lourine wants the lack of access to medications remedied.
"I'm tired of begging."
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: LORA GORDON/Staff Lourine and Aubrey McCoy have to takeby CNB10 different medications a day, often worrying how to pay for them.
color. KEYWORDS: POLITICS CONGRESS