U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato
Senate Office Building
520 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator D'Amato:
I want to discuss a life and death situation with you concerning
individuals who must rely on ventilators in order to breathe. The act of
breathing is a function that most people don't even think about. The fact
is, when a person stops breathing they die. Ventilators assist polio
survivors, spinal cord injured persons, & others with neuromuscular
problems to live productive lives. The problem is with Medicare, HMO's, &
insurance companies that balk at allowing a person to have two
ventilators on hand in case of an emergency. One of your constituent's,
Bob Mauro, is a polio survivor who is vent dependent 24 hours a day. He
and many like him are being badgered by Medicare by denying him the right
to have two ventilators. This is an outrageous situation that must be
resolved expediently. The reality is, without a back-up ventilator, Bob
could die if his ventilator breaks down.
I too am a polio survivor. I use my vent only at night to assist me with
breathing. My insurance company purchased two vents for me back in the
early 1980's. At the time, I had a friend who needed a vent badly and she
didn't have insurance. I gave my extra ventilator to her physician so she
could breathe. My PLV-100 worked like a trooper for over a decade. I have
lugged it on airplanes, trains, etc. It seemed to break down every time I
traveled. Last year, my husband's insurance company purchased me a back
up unit. I can't describe the peace of mind I have in knowing I have an
extra vent in case of an emergency. Please help the other vent-users that
have not been as fortunate as me obtain an emergency vent.
Mr. Jim Lubin is also a vent user who is having problems with the
bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo that won't allow him to have two ventilators.
Jim, through his computer wizardry, has enabled vent-users worldwide to
communicate with each other. We are a productive group. Some of us are
writers, teachers, and even physicians. I have a friend who is a
practicing physician in IN. who uses a vent to breathe during the day,
and he sleeps in an iron-lung at night. All of us contribute to society.
We do not long for Dr. Kevorkian to help us. All we are asking, is for
you and the other members of Congress to enable us to keep breathing.
Surely, that's not too much to ask!
Sincerely,
Valerie Brew-Parrish
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