CIGNA to be sued for manslaughter or murder in death of girl

It would be nice if things did not have to be this way, but this is the way the modern health care industry has evolved. The health care industry in the US is always there when it's time to collect money, but rarely around to help during the tough times. Republicans who pooh-pooh national health care because of wait times (an issue I have never personally experienced in France) can take a look at this health care wait time. Please explain.

It was a shocking, eye opening experience for me when my father was diagnosed with cancer in September 2001. Already facing costly annual premium costs, he was terrified to lose his life savings with expensive treatments. He had one doctor who suggested the possibility of joining a new drug testing program - for $25,000 cash, no insurance - but was turned down because he would not provide enough positive results for their tests.
More on health care in America, after the jump.

The chemotherapy medication ultimately led to the sicknesses that caused his death (something that I discovered was not unusual) and he even had to deal with one charming doctor who stopped in mid-session because "he would not get paid" after my father started with hospice care. A real humanitarian, who joined the profession to help fellow man, no doubt and what a morale booster. While that particular doctor ranks lower than whale poop as a human being, it raised the bizarre and inhumane system that we have allowed. It's all about the money and very little about people. (Well, except the people profiting enormously at the top of this industry.)

The health care system here in France has it's problems and yes it's expensive. I would argue that even with taxes it is still cheaper than the system in the US. I have yet to hear a single person over here ever worry that they are going to lose their life savings because of an illness. Nor have I heard of people here complain about extended delays or insurance companies blocking critical procedures like this. Just last week the EU courts ruled that a patient from the UK could come to France to receive treatment because of UK delays, which I often hear about. All national health programs are not created equal.

Going back to the case of CIGNA denying a transplant, this poor family has to be furious. This was something that doctors said would save this girl and yet the damned insurance company was part of the problem. Who hasn't spent hours on the phone with their insurance company, wondering what they will and won't pay for? Why should people who are in need - and paying outrageous costs, to boot - be treated so poorly? This is possible because our political establishment allows this to happen.

With the economy and health care on target to be hot 2008 election issues, people need to step back and think about who is going to make a difference. The two issues are connected, because health care increasingly is a very big and powerful industry that has much too much control over our lives. From a personal economic perspective, this is costing Americans both in terms of co-payments for coverage not to mention co-pays for actual visits. Costs are going up and look at the return on investment that people are receiving. Are we really seeing any value for that investment?

Americans are always told how great the US system is but the facts say otherwise. What's so great about adding these worries to patients when they are already going through the stress of a life threatening illness? Is this tangled mess really becoming of a great nation? It's clear that it pays pretty well for the health care industry, but as a consumer, who really likes this system?

I am looking forward to hearing CIGNA executives take the stand in front of a jury. Let them explain to all of us how this system works and why they refused treatment to a dying girl. It's time this industry is held accountable but more importantly it's time America makes changes that benefit people and not just business. Who knows...maybe if John Edwards doesn't win the nomination, he will do for health care what Al Gore did for global warming.