Janice Schakowsky: “And my colleague is talking about dollars and cents cost, and I think we have to have a much broader view on how we…”

“And my colleague is talking about dollars and cents cost, and I think we have to have a much broader view on how we calculate that. My colleague also talks about the human cost. My father lived with me for 6 years before he died and was part of an HMO, and I cannot tell my colleagues the hours that I spent on the phone, the letters that I wrote, and I was writing as a State representative so it presumably was even easier for me, just trying to get him the care that he needed, getting them to cover what I thought that he needed that they eventually did and that anyone with common sense would see needed to be covered. What if I was not there to advocate for him? How much shorter would his life have been? How much more difficult would his life have been? These all have to be part of our larger calculation.”