Families plead for health-care change

By KELLEY CASINO

BATAVIA – Marilynn Coleman was in the middle of chemotherapy when her insurance company canceled her coverage.

She kept up with the cancer treatments but now, nine months later, 63-year-old Coleman has a new set of problems – like anemia.

And despite her best efforts, she still has no insurance.

"How I'm going to pay these bills, which are well over $200,000, I have no idea," said Coleman, of Elgin. "But I'm trying to get well."

On Tuesday, Coleman joined others who are uninsured and those fighting for health-care reform at a gathering outside the Batavia office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Plano.

The group of more than a dozen people rallied in purple "I'm a Health Care Voter" T-shirts and carried signs bearing the same saying.

"At the end of the day, 46 million individuals are uninsured, millions more are under-insured, and at least 18,000 people die each year because they don't have health insurance," said Colleen Daley, campaign director for Illinois for Health Care. "Families can't keep up with the rising health care burdens."

Specifically, the group called on Hastert to become a health care voter and "bring reform to a system that is unfair, inefficient and too expensive," Daley said.

Spokesman Brad Hahn said Hastert's voting record speaks for itself.

"Time and again, Denny Hastert has been a leading voice in expanding access to quality health care," Hahn said. "He's been a national leader, and he's worked locally to implement programs that have passed in Washington."

He said that Hastert has pushed for Medicare and malpractice reform, among many other initiatives.

Tuesday's rally was part of a national campaign called Chalk It Up. Supporters in 31 states drew chalk outlines – or in Batavia's case, brought cutouts – to symbolize those who have died because they did not have health insurance.

"It is criminal for anyone in America to die because they didn't have health insurance," said William McNaly, the president of U.S. Action. "It is wrong for anyone who works hard, who pays taxes, and who plays by the rules to go without insurance."

Silvia Alvarez, through an interpreter, said her son, Diego, is in need of a double lung transplant, which the uninsured Aurora family cannot afford. Diego, 14, has cystic fibrosis.

"The only thing I ask is to give my son a chance at life," she said. "My son wants to live; my son asks to live. We need help."

Hahn said a letter presented by the group would make its way to Hastert, who was not in Batavia during the rally.

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