John Q Page #5

No, sir. It doesn't. My son is very sick. If I'm not covered, I've got a serious problem.

INSURANCE REP.

I understand that, but there's nothing I can do. You might want to try State Services. Either that, or you can file an appeal.

J.Q.

Yeah?

The insurance rep pushes a stack of papers towards J.Q.

INSURANCE REP.

Here are the forms. It'll take about seven working days.

INT. STATE SERVICES - DAY

J.Q. and Denise at a window counter, talking to a STATE EMPLOYEE, who only knows what's on the computer screen in front of her.

STATE REP:

Says here you already have medical insurance.

J.Q.

Not enough.

DENISE:

What little we have is already used up.

STATE REP:

I understand that. But then you don't qualify. We only give assistance to patients without coverage. Are you on Welfare?

J.Q.

No.

STATE REP:

You should be on Welfare.

DENISE:

Welfare? We both have jobs.

STATE REP:

Oh, that's too bad. Sorry, I can't help you. Try MA.

INT. COUNTY MEDICAL ASSISTANCE - DAY

A county worker flips through J.Q.'s paperwork.

COUNTY EMPLOYEE:

It says here your son's condition is congenital.

J.Q.

Yeah?

COUNTY EMPLOYEE:

Not congenitive.

J.Q.

So what? What's the difference?

COUNTY EMPLOYEE:

Big difference. It means it's a pre existing condition, one your son was born with. A birth defect. Obviously, it pre-dates your coverage. Otherwise we could help.

J.Q.

That's impossible. He's had clean check ups every year.

COUNTY EMPLOYEE:

I don't know what to tell you. It's right here in the report. Have you tried Medicaid?

INT. MEDICAID OFFICES - DAY

Another state run facility. Another employee. Another excuse.

MEDICAID OFFICER

No.

J.Q.

No, what?

MEDICAID OFFICER

You don't qualify.

J.Q.

Don't qualify? I've got a kid who's dying and I'm broke. If I don't qualify, who does?

MEDICAID OFFICER

Lower your voice, sir.

J.Q.

I mean, what do you guys do, anyway? Why does this service even exist?

MEDICAID OFFICER

I'm sorry.

J.Q.

I don't need you to be sorry. I need some help.

INT. COMPUTER ROOM - SOMEWHERE IN AMERICA - NIGHT

We see more of the list this time. Boldfaced columns appear: HOSPITAL/CENTER, CROSS MATCH, WEIGHT RANGE, BLOOD TYPE.

Vernell Tilson, Des Moines, Metropolitan Hospital, Entry Date: Feb. 5, 215-240 lbs. Type "O". Status 2. Arthur Friedlander, Jefferson City, St. Joseph's Medical Center, Entry Date: April 30, 160-175 lbs. Type "O". Status 2. Mike Archibald...

INT. HOPE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL - ELEVATOR - DAY

John Q. takes the trip down with Rebecca Payne.

PAYNE:

No, no, no. You filed an appeal? An appeal is for an already existing claim. What you needed to file was a grievance. You'll have to resubmit. But that could take up to thirty days.

J.Q.

I don't have thirty days.

PAYNE:

I know that.

J.Q.

And, frankly, I'm tired of getting the runaround. I need my son's name on that list.

PAYNE:

Mr. Archibald, your hospital bill is in excess of thirty thousand dollars. So far, we haven't received any kind of payment. We have bent over backward to help you.

J.Q.

Oh, is that right?

PAYNE:

Yes, sir, that is right. But there is a limit to this hospital's generosity. Once and for all, you are not covered by insurance. We will need to guarantee payment.

J.Q.

You want money? Alright, I'll get you your money.

INT. ARCHIBALD HOUSE - DAY

John selling everything. Television, washer, dryer, sofa. Strangers walk through the house and make offers. Jimmy Palumbo shakes his head.

JIMMY:

You know what you should do? You should try that newsguy that does all those special investigative reports. You know the one. The guy with the hair.

J.Q.

Yeah, yeah.

JIMMY:

The trouble shooter. Channel eight. What's his name?

A woman offers twenty dollars for the coffee table. J.Q. takes it, pocketing the money.

JIMMY (CONT'D)

Lampley. Tuck Lampley.

INT. MAKE-UP ROOM - STUDIO CHANNEL 8 - DAY

TUCK LAMPLEY, 38, with plastic hair, sits at his desk, his lunch spread all over the table.

LAMPLEY:

Tuck Lampley. Hope you don't mind if I eat while we talk. I'm up to here today, you know? Go, go, go.

J.Q.

No, that's fine. Thanks for seeing us.

LAMPLEY:

So, what can I do you for?

J.Q.

My son, Mike, went into heart failure playing in his little league game. I have full insurance through my work, but now they're saying they don't have to pay.

LAMPLEY:

Why not?

JIMMY:

Lots of reasons. He don't even understand half of them.

LAMPLEY:

What about the hospital?

J.Q.

Hope Memorial Hospital.

LAMPLEY:

Yeah, Hope Memorial. Don't they have to cover it?

JIMMY:

Right, right? That's what I thought.

J.Q.

No. The hospital says I have to pay cash. Otherwise the only thing I can do is bring Mike home and watch him die.

LAMPLEY:

Jesus.

J.Q.

Yeah.

Lampley is already working on the story in his head, putting all the pieces in the right place.

LAMPLEY:

Bureaucracy of the medical establishment, American family caught in the middle.

JIMMY:

Right. Big guy versus little guy. We were thinking you could do one of them special interest pieces, you know? Send donations, write your congressman. That kind of thing.

J.Q.

Anything would help.

LAMPLEY:

What they've done to your son is outrageous, and I want to help. But I've got to run it by my producers. I've got bosses, just like anyone else. So, leave me your phone number, and I'll get back to you.

EXT. ARCHIBALD HOUSE - DAY

The fire sale continues. The Archibald refrigerator is carried out the front door.

EXT. ALL SAINTS CHURCH - DAY

After Sunday services, The pastor hands John and envelope of collection money, and the congregation wishes him luck.

INT. MIKE'S ICU ROOM - NIGHT

Mike is sitting up in bed. He's pale, but he's in a good mood, joking around with his he-man poses. John and Denise react to something funny he says, and the three of them are laughing. John looks at the monitor. It now reads 86.

INT. DINER - DAY

John, Jimmy and Gina go door to door, soliciting donations.

INT. MIKE'S ICU ROOM - NIGHT

J.Q. reads to Mike from a book. Mike's eyes close and John smiles as he falls asleep. As John closes the book, something catches his eye. At the far end of the ICU, a man in a coal black suit stands over a boy in a hospital bed. He is the HOSPITAL CHAPLAIN, and he is performing last rites. The boy's distraught parents hang on to each other for comfort. The chaplain kisses the crucifix, touches it to the boy's forehead, and begins to pray.

John and Denise exchange a look. The chaplain whispers incantations and he makes the sign of the cross over the dying child. Plink. John and Denise turn. The monitor now reads 84.

INT. ILLINOIS TRUST - DAY

John and Denise are refused for a loan.

INT. ROYAL GOLD & JEWELRY - DAY

Tight on a diamond ring through a lapidary's eyeglass. There are two gold wedding rings on the counter. The jeweler nods his head, and John takes the cash.

INT. MIKE'S ICU ROOM - NIGHT

Mike, oxygen tubes in his nostrils, is fast asleep, the monitors chirping quietly. Denise sits by Mike's bed, hands clasped and head bowed, praying hard. John Q. walks in, catches the anxiety on her face, before seeing the cause. The monitor now reads 80.

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