Note the mention of the DCNY's persecution of Fr. David Bollinger. At the time of this posting the story generated 77 comments at PressConnects.com. ed.
From The Press and Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton):
BY BRIAN TUMULTY •WASHINGTON BUREAU • NOVEMBER 13, 2009, 9:40 PM
WASHINGTON -- Former Owego Mayor Kelly Bollinger never talked publicly about how health care costs pushed her family into bankruptcy more than two years ago -- until Friday.
The occasion was a visit to the White House for an event hosted by first lady Michelle Obama that focused on health problems facing older women.
Unlike two women at the event, who spoke about their personal battles with breast cancer, the 52-year-old Bollinger is in good health.
But four years ago, her husband, David, suffered a heart attack that forced his early retirement in 2006 as an Episcopal minister. Kelly Bollinger, Owego mayor in the late 1990s, had to switch the family's health coverage to a more expensive plan with higher deductibles offered by her employer, the nonprofit Tioga County Council on Addiction.
Around the same time, one of the Bollingers' three daughters, Elizabeth, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer while still attending college.
The cancer was treatable, but only a few physicians specialize in treating it. The family had to make periodic trips to Lexington, Ky., as part of Elizabeth's care.
"We took advances on credit cards to pay for medical bills and travel expenses, and after a while it became overwhelming," Kelly Bollinger said.
Elizabeth, who continues to travel to Kentucky for once-a-year treatments, is now married and works as a Chenango County social worker.
Filing for bankruptcy, Kelly Bollinger said, remains an embarrassment.
"But it happens to a lot of people," she said. "It's something people need to know about -- how quickly you can be a completely healthy family and everything purring along just fine, and then two catastrophic illnesses in one family and you can lose everything."
The only reason the family didn't lose its house was that David Bollinger qualified for Social Security disability.
Adding to the Bollinger's struggles, David Bollinger was barred from his church for two years while he was embroiled in a legal dispute with the Episcopal Diocese of Central New York. In July 2007, an Episcopal court cleared him of all charges related to diocesan allegations of financial misconduct while he was rector of St. Paul's Church.
At Friday's event, held in the East Room of the White House, the first lady thanked Kelly Bollinger and the other women for their personal stories.
"I can't tell you what the bill that ultimately comes across my husband's desk will look like," Obama said, referring to the health reform legislation working its way through Congress.
But she predicted that whatever is enacted will address the women's biggest concerns by capping out-of-pocket medical expenses, barring insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions, requiring coverage for preventive checkups and closing the "doughnut hole" gap in Medicare prescription drug coverage.
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