cancer and the candidates

The Susan G. Komen Foundation, a neutral group, got the two US presidential campaigns to give answers to four questions about cancer and healthcare priorities. This link takes you to their answers. (click on the previous sentence.) Farther down that page is another link that sets out each candidate's healthcare plan point by point, side by side, so it's easy to compare.

For any of you undecided Americans out there, I would urge you to focus your decision on healthcare plans. Sure the economy is important, security etc. are all important, but if you have thought about all that and still have trouble deciding then consider healthcare.

Here's my reasons. Our insurance situation is obscenely unfair in this country. How many of us have wasted time and coordinated our health decisions around what insurance will cover or not, whether something is a pre-existing condition, whether we can even afford the co-pays or deductibles? How many health conditions go undetected or untreated because someone can't afford to go to the doctor? No, Medicaid doesn't catch all those people. I just finished paying off the bills for the birth of our child last year, when she was two. And now I'll be paying off my out-of-pocket maximum for my recent surgery for this year and into next. And this is all WITH a "good" insurance package. Now my career options are limited because I had cancer -- and that means I can't go freelance or take a break between jobs or I will lose insurance coverage for anything pre-existing. Forever.

Sure, I'm happy to be alive and well and employed, thrilled that I had insurance, but the greed of the insurance companies is now affecting my future and I resent that. There's no other explanation that I can think of for why they would exclude pre-existing conditions than it's an excuse to limit what they pay for. So it's greed. Okay, sure, they have to make a profit for their shareholders.... Then it's the shareholders who are greedy! I can accept living in a capitalist society if the capitalists have some compassion and integrity. Go ahead, make a profit on health insurance, but don't punish people for things that aren't their fault. Be creative and figure out a way to make shareholders AND patients happy. Americans make a big deal about "freedom" but we allow insurance and drug companies to keep us trapped and financially strapped. Whichever candidates you vote for, make sure they are going to do SOMETHING to free us from the high costs of healthcare and health insurance.