The death and life of Azusa Suzuki

Steve Duin, Oregonian:

As Clem testified last week on ending the insurance industry's exemption to Oregon's Unfair Trade Practices Act, Suzuki and her late husband long ran the Suzuki-Tambara orchard in Parkdale.

When Suzuki turned 65 in 2005, she applied for supplemental insurance from Regence to cover the gaps in her policy as she moved under the Medicare umbrella. In completing the application, she received considerable help from her daughter, Carol, and her legislative son-in-law.

The Clems assumed all was well -- heck, Regence pulled more than $500 from Suzuki's bank account -- until nine months later when Suzuki had a serious automobile accident, fracturing a vertebrae in her neck.

When the Clems provided insurance info to the ambulance company and Providence, the medical center announced there was a problem with Suzuki's supplemental insurance.

The Clems called Regence. "We're standing in the kitchen," Clem said. "Carol is on the phone, talking to some guy named Ron. He was, like, 'Well, we believe she's dead. That's why we rejected the claim.'"

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