Washington , D.C. , Nov. 4, 1971 – In the most dramatic plea ever made on behalf of kidney patients, Shep Glazer, Vice-President of NAPH, testified before the House Ways and Means Committee while attached to a fully functioning artificial kidney machine.

Minutes before, in the corridor outside the hearing room, Shep told reporters from the AP, UPI, and theWashington Post, “Gentlemen, I am going to tell the Committee that if dialysis can be performed on the floor ofCongress, it can be performed anywhere.” As his wife, Charlotte , connected him to the machine, he continued, “Kidney patients don’t have to be confined to hospitals, where expenses are $25,000 a year and more per patient. It’s much cheaper in a satellite unit or at home. I want to show the Committee what dialysis is really like. I want them to remember us.”

The House Ways and Means Committee (Chairman Wilbur Mills, D-Ark.) scheduled NAPH to testify during a series of hearings on national health insurance which started Oct. 19. A delegation of 8, one coming from as far as Houston, was chosen to represent the interests of kidney patients in the U.S.

In his summary, Shep Glazer asked the Committee to give the American people a comprehensive health insurance program which will fully protect them in case of catastrophic illness. He said that kidney disease is unique, because kidney patients, unlike other terminal patients, can be returned to a fairly normal life. He emphasized that we are productive members of society, pay our taxes and circulate money back into the country’s economy.

Shep underlined the fact that many of America’s 4,000 kidney patients (dialysis) are reaching the end of their financial rope, and state programs are inadequate to support them. He said that a growing number of patients areconfronted with the unpleasant choice of either dying or at best becoming welfare recipients.

Personally, he said his major medical insurance is running out. “What should I do?” he asked the Committee. “Sell my house and give up trying to educate my children?”

The other members of the delegation then took the microphone one by one, giving their own testimony. CharlotteGlazer entered several documents into the Committee hearing record – the formal NAPH presentation, a letter from New York Blue Cross endorsing NAPH’s position, an article by David Zinman in Newsday (a Long Islan daily paper) about the problems of dialysis patients, and a copy of NAPH NEWS.

William Litchfield, Legislative Correspondent for NAPH NEWS, flew up from Houston . He fervently urged the Committee to include the cost of out-patient dialysis in any future legislation. He also stressed that they avoid financing involving co-insurance obligations.

The founder of “The Fight to Live Crusade,” Roland Fortier, told the Committee that he had received over 25,000 letters from all parts of the country demanding that health legislation should not exclude chronic kidney patients.

Peter Lundin, the only medical student on dialysis in the U.S. (he’s graduating in May) said that his experience proves that kidney patients can be rehabilitated.

Abe Holtz spoke poignantly about his own experience on dialysis and why he thought it should be available to everyone.

June Crowley said that she was able to continue her home life with a husband and four children only because she was accepted by a federally-funded dialysis program in Brooklyn at a time when there were no dialysis facilities in the area of her Long Island home.

Congressmen stood and watched as Shep Glazer was disconnected from the machine after the presentation. They showed great interest, and they express it in the record. Wilbur Mills, the Chairman, thanked NAPH for an excellent testimony and said that he appreciated our efforts. Sam Gibbons (D-Fla.) said that NAPH’s testimony moved him because a member of his family had been stricken with kidney disease. Charles Vanik (D-Ohio) questioned the NAPH delegation further about insurance policies and the backlog of patients in hospitals. Representatives Ullman (D-Ore.) and Brotzman (R-Colo.) praised the courage and perseverance of the members of the delegation for their dramatic presentation.

Invaluable behind-the-scenes help was provided by three people: Dr. Schupak of Elmhurst Hospital, Queens, N.Y. who granted permission for Shep to dialyze before the Committee; Dr. James Carey of Georgetown Hospital, who delivered the machine and personally supervised the dialysis; and John Martin, the Chief Counsel for the Committee, who cut through red tape and found solutions to seemingly insurmountable obstacles.