A re-post inspired by Sicko: The stages of grief.

[flamin lib]

Denial, Anger, and yet more Anger.

It’s been more than a year since my best friend died and I’m still stuck at anger. I’m mad at the drug and insurance lobbies and at the Republicans who suck up to them. I’m mad that 15 years ago when the Clinton administration tried to do something to help people like Kevin the axis of evil eviscerated them with lies, distortions and an unprecedented advertising and email campaign.

There are 46 million people in the United States without health insurance. Kevin was one of them. Not because he was lazy or too poorly equipped to get a job with benefits. Not because he didn’t know better. He was without coverage because he was a self-employed businessman, the kind of fellow that Bush raves about for his entrepreneurial spirit.

For every million people without health insurance there are 16,000 people between the ages of 25 and 55 who die for lack of care. Kevin was one of them.

For years Kevin paid the outrageous premiums that insurance companies charge. Then, after the wonderful Bush economy cut his customer base in half he had to cut costs. Either pay the mortgage or pay the insurance. Kevin paid the mortgage.

No-one should be forced to choose between their home and their health. Thirty-seven industrialized nations have universal health care. Every one of them has a longer lifespan and lower infant mortality rate than the United States. Every one of them pays a fraction of what we do for medical care. Every one of them can provide a blueprint for universal health care in the United States.

Kevin had been feeling bad for about a week but put off visiting the doctor because a single office call costs several hundred dollars. He would just have to tough it out and get over it.

Since George Bush took office a million people each year lost their insurance because they lost a job, their employer stopped offering coverage or like Kevin they could no longer afford it. That’s six million new uninsured. That means that 96,000 more people die needlessly every year for lack of care. These aren’t street people, they’re not drug users and they’re not different from you and me. In fact they are exactly like the average American because they are the average American. How many pay checks would you have to miss before you stopped paying the $1500-2000 a month insurance premiums?

Kevin continued to suffer and finally called the doctor. He died of a heart attack as he got dressed to go to the appointment. He was a few weeks short of his fifty-first birthday. I miss him. And I’m mad.

[Cleita]

1. 18,000 Americans die a year needlessly because they didn't

have access to health care. Many of those had a health plan but were underinsured. My sympathy to you for your loss. Now it's time to join with Physicians For a National Health Plan and to support Dennis Kucinich who is trying to get a bill through the senate to extend an improved Medicare to everyone.

[durrrty libby]

2. I feel for you and this happens everyday

How about the poor souls who commit crimes just so they can get

medication for their HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses.

Inmates get needed medication....law abiding citizens get squat