Michelle's Law

I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I rise today in support of this bill, Michelle's Law, which honors the memory and life and struggle of Michelle Morse. Michelle's mother, AnnMarie,

and her brother, Michael, are with us today to remember and honor her.

Michelle Morse was a college student in Plymouth, New Hampshire. She was like other students. She went to class and hung out with her friends. She was a happy and gifted student preparing to be a school teacher like her mom. She picked her major, childhood studies, because she wanted to dedicate her life to help children. But Michelle Morse and her family were forced to make a choice that students should never have to make: a choice between her health and her health insurance.

You see, while in college, Michelle was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer. She had her health insurance through her mother but could only keep her health insurance if she remained a full-time student. Since she was undergoing rigorous chemotherapy treatments, her doctors urged her to take time off from school to focus on her treatment. Michelle was faced with a daunting choice: to keep her health insurance and maintain her full-time student status, or follow her doctors' orders and face colossal health bills for her and her family.

Michelle chose to stay in school and keep her health insurance. She continued her chemotherapy treatments and maintained a grade point average above 3.5 which, by anyone's standards, is inspiring and shows just what a strong person Michelle was. Unfortunately, despite her valiant fight against cancer, she succumbed to the weight of the cancer and the rigors of being a full-time student and passed away after she graduated.

But this story isn't just about Michelle. It's about Michelle's family who fought with Michelle and continue to fight for Michelle to this day.

Michelle's family, led by her mother, AnnMarie, made it their mission to ensure that this choice doesn't have to be made by any other family. AnnMarie Morse began a relentless campaign to change the law in New Hampshire so that students could have a medical leave of absence from college without losing their coverage under their parents' health insurance.

When the law was changed in New Hampshire after her tireless efforts and leadership, AnnMarie Morse wanted to make sure that students across the country would have the same protections.

So she brought her campaign to Capitol Hill and began her efforts to lobby. She lobbied me, she lobbied other Members of Congress, she lobbied everybody. And let me tell you, there is nothing stopping this mother's love. She called everybody she could and anyone she could in her campaign to protect other people's children from being faced with the same terrible choice she and her daughter had to make.

I'm honored to know AnnMarie and the Morse family and to have introduced this legislation aptly named Michelle's Law, a law fueled by a family's love and a special young woman's memory.

Michelle's Law would change current health insurance law to allow college students a year of medical leave of absence. Michelle's Law has worked in New Hampshire and can now work for students and families across this great Nation. This commonsense legislation has been embraced by Democrats and Republicans and by groups across the board from the insurance industry to patient advocacy groups like the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, which has been a leader in advocating for this bill.

Madam Speaker, I submit for the Record the letters of support we've received.

American Cancer Society,

Cancer Action Network,

Washington, DC, June 25, 2007.

Hon. Paul Hodes,

U.S. Senate,

Washington, DC.

Dear Representative Hodes: On behalf of the volunteers and

supporters of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action

NetworkSM (ACS CAN), the sister advocacy

organization of the American Cancer Society, we are writing

to express our support for the Michelle's Law legislation,

which you recently introduced. H.R. 2851 will expand access

to health insurance for college students required to take a

medical leave of absence from their studies in the event of a

diagnosis such as cancer. We commend you for your leadership

in addressing this gap in health insurance coverage for

students, and for your commitment to advancing the interests

of cancer patients and their families.

As you know, this legislation would allow college students

to take medical leave while battling a serious illness and

still maintain eligibility for their parents' health

insurance. Statistical studies show that the number one

factor determining whether a person who has cancer will

survive is whether that person has insurance. Only the

insured have access to the timely, appropriate, and

affordable health care that is crucial in fighting cancer or

any other serious illness. No student should be presented

with the dilemma that Michelle Morse experienced when she was

forced to maintain a full college course load while

undergoing debilitating medical treatment.

If we are to ultimately conquer cancer, our system must

ensure that all Americans have access to high quality care.

This legislation is a meaningful step toward this goal.

Again, we applaud your efforts to preserve health insurance

for seriously ill college students, and we look forward to

working with you on this important legislation. If you have

questions or need any assistance, please do not hesitate to

contact Jaimie Vickery, ACS CAN Senior Federal Representative

at (202) 661-5720.

Thank you again for your leadership on this important

issue.

Sincerely,

Daniel E. Smith,

President.

Wendy K. D. Selig,

Vice President Legislative Affairs.

Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Georgia for yielding to me.

I also rise to ask my colleagues to support the legislation before us today, Michelle's Law, which will prohibit insurers and group health plans from terminating coverage of dependent college students who lose their full-time student status due to a serious illness or injury.

As you may know, some insurance plans allow college students to remain covered as dependents only if they attend a post-secondary institution full-time. As a result, this may force college students throughout the country with serious illnesses or serious injuries, who are dependent upon their parents' insurance, to make the difficult choice of pursuing a college education or taking care of their health.

Mr. Hodes just spoke about Michelle Morse who died tragically of colon cancer in 2005 after going against her doctor's wishes and maintaining her full-time course schedule to maintain her health insurance.

In my home State of Delaware, Michelle Rigney, a University of Delaware student diagnosed with melanoma when she was 19, and cancer advocate who I had the honor of working with several times over the last few years, also recently lost her battle with the disease.

Throughout her battle with cancer, Michelle Rigney advocated for the passage of this bill to make things easier for others in similar situations. Michelle expressed her concerns over insurance to me as well as the importance of easing the stress students with a serious illness face when deciding between an education and their health.

I believe strongly that Michelle's Law will give seriously ill and injured students and their families the time they need to decide what their next steps should be without the fear of losing their health insurance. CBO estimates that the bipartisan H.R. 2851 would have no significant impact on the budget. Additionally, this commonsense legislation has been endorsed by several key health and insurance groups, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, the National Education Association, America's Health Insurance Plans, and the American Diabetes Association. A full list of groups that endorse this bill will be submitted for the Record, and indeed, Representative Hodes sent up letters already doing that.

List of Groups that Support the Passage of Michelle's Law

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACSCAN);

American College Health Association; American Diabetes

Association; America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP);

American Heart/Stroke Association; American Hospital

Association; American Medical Student Association; American

Nurses Association; Colorectal Cancer Coalition; Leukemia and

Lymphoma Society; Healthcare Leadership Council; National

Association of Graduate Professional Students; National

Association of Social Workers; National Collegiate Athletic

Association (NCAA); National Education Association (NEA);

National Health Council; National Kidney Foundation; National

Patient Advocate Foundation.

Finally, I want to thank Representative Hodes for his leadership on this bill in the House, and I thank all of the various committees, Education and Labor, Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce Committee Members and their staff members for their hard work on getting this bill to the floor.

I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 2851, Michelle's Law.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 2851) to amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to ensure that dependent students who take a medically necessary leave of absence do not lose health insurance coverage, and for other purposes, as amended.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, Michelle's Law was introduced by my colleague from New Hampshire, Representative Paul Hodes, in honor of Michelle Morse, a 20- year-old student who was attending Plymouth State University when she was diagnosed with colon cancer in December of 2003.

Michelle's doctors recommended that she leave school temporarily so she could undergo surgery and chemotherapy. Unfortunately, if Michelle followed her doctors' advice and dropped out of school to receive treatment, she would no longer be eligible for health coverage under her mother's policy.

The truth of the matter, Mr. Speaker, is that most college-aged students are only able to keep their parents' health insurance if they attend classes full time. Under most health care plans, when a student becomes seriously ill or injured, he or she is unfortunately left with very few options. Students are forced into the difficult decision of continuing with a full-time course load while they try to seek treatment, or withdrawing and losing health care eligibility. No American should be faced with such a choice, in my opinion.

Unfortunately, Michelle had to choose. Michelle and her family decided that she would remain in school full time while she received treatment for her cancer. After enduring a rigorous course load and successfully graduating, Michelle lost her battle with cancer in November of 2005.

After Michelle's passing, her mother decided that no other family should have to make the same tough decision. Thanks to her efforts, New Hampshire passed a law that allows students to take a 1-year medical leave of absence while maintaining their dependency status. The bill before us today would afford the same protections for students nationwide.

I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote ``yes'' for this important piece of legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to yield 5 minutes to the gentleman from New Hampshire (Mr. Hodes), the sponsor of the legislation.

Madam Speaker, I have no further requests for time, and I would urge passage of this bill, Michelle's Law, in honor of Michelle Morse on a bipartisan basis.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Madam Speaker, I rise to voice my strong support for H.R. 2851, Michelle's Law. This important legislation amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act, and the Internal Revenue Code to prohibit a group health plan from terminating coverage of a dependent child due to a medically necessary leave of absence from a postsecondary education institution.

Madam Speaker, few Americans can simply write a check to cover the cost of attending college. The average college student graduates with alarming amounts of debt, in fact, most undergraduate students graduate with close to $20,000 in student loan debt. I find it unconscionable that, in a time of worsening financial burdens, we would also place the burden of costs associated with unexpected illness on the lives of our young students.

According to Harvard Medical School, the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States is due to unpaid medical bills, most of which were filed while the individual or family had health insurance. My bill, H.R. 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act, creates a health care system where there is no such thing as medical debt, problems with credit, or filing for bankruptcy because of unpaid medical bills. Under H.R. 676, financial insecurity from fear of indebtedness from medical expenses will cease to exist.

Martin Luther King, Jr. stated that every human being requires four things to lead a happy and productive life: shelter, employment, education, and health. When a person has access to the aforementioned four requirements, a fifth, justice, holds them all together. When a student loses full-time status because of an illness and access to healthcare, a home and education become more difficult to maintain. However, with Michelle's Law, we can provide justice to college students and help them retain access to care so they can work towards the American dream.

Madam Speaker, instead of making it more difficult for the young men and women of our nation to achieve higher education, we should be doing everything in our power to facilitate completion of their courses of study, especially when faced with hardships such as debilitating physical or mental illness. Please pass Michelle's Law, and help ensure that there is one less impediment to education and healthcare for our nation's hardworking college students.

Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in support of Michelle's Law. This is a small, but important piece of legislation that will give many college students the sense of security that they deserve regarding continuity of their health insurance.

One of the most frightening moments in a parent's life is sending his or her child off to college. Yet, as parents, we feel comforted by the unspoken assumption that while at college our children will receive continuous access to health insurance based on their dependent status on our family policies. You can imagine the surprise and distress that AnnMarie Morse felt, then, when she learned that her daughter,

Michelle Morse, after falling ill from colon cancer, would only be covered by health insurance if she maintained a full-time class schedule while undergoing exhausting chemotherapy treatment. Michelle shouldn't have been forced to maintain that schedule--and risk her very recovery--because of her need to maintain her health insurance.

Michelle's Law provides needed protections and will help students who are enrolled in college and who only qualify as dependents under their parents' health insurance plans because of their student status. If these students get seriously ill and need to take a physician-certified leave of absence from college for up to a year, they will be able to maintain their coverage under their parent's health insurance. If they graduate before that time is up, their coverage will expire when it normally would have anyway. This is common sense--and will ensure that student-based dependent coverage lives up to its stated goal. No student should be forced to stay in college--and risk ruining their academic standing--because of inability to simultaneously battle their serious illness or injury and maintain their grades.

Although this bill is too late to help Michelle, we can still help other children who might one day have to make the choice between forcing themselves to go to school while severely ill or leaving school and trying to pay insurmountable fees. I'm advised that even the health insurance industry supports this bill. Let's stop debating and quickly pass this important piece of legislation. We owe it to our children to ensure that their health coverage is there when they need it most.