johnbyronkuhner.com

A superb speech.  This man is still head and shoulders above the other politicians around him.  I felt that what had to be said were stories along these lines:

One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn’t reported gallstones that he didn’t even know about. They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it. Another woman from Texas was about to get a double mastectomy when her insurance company canceled her policy because she forgot to declare a case of acne. By the time she had her insurance reinstated, her breast cancer had more than doubled in size. That is heart-breaking, it is wrong, and no one should be treated that way in the United States of America.

The accusation “You lie” by Rep. Joe Wilson was quite striking, as clearly contrary to the spirit of the chamber.  It is odd to me that the “conservative” party is the one with no class or manners and which violates the tradition of the house.  Obama’s glare was priceless – the disdain of a better man.

I have few health-care stories, only having been to doctors two or three times in the past decade.  But one is relevant: after teaching and paying literally tens of thousands of dollars into the system (for no care received), I injured my wrist just a few days before my coverage expired.  I attempted to get an appointment with a doctor within that time frame, which was, of course, impossible.  The recommendation was to go to an emergency room.  I also called to find out what the price was for a visit to an orthopedist on my own.  It was $400 for the visit, more if I were to get x-rays, etc.  None of the options seemed good and I figured it would get better on its own.  It never quite did – my wrist is still a problem more than a year later.  Any option would have been better than the current system for me.  If I had never had insurance, all of the money my employer paid for health insurance could have gone to me – which would have paid for the care needed many times over.  If we had government health insurance, as long as I remained a citizen I would not have gone off coverage.  No great disaster either way, but certainly there is room in our system for some improvement.