For me this is one of the most disgraceful aspects of the Republican control in America. It's shameful to have the richest country in the world offer a health care system that is beyond average. Yes, I know the US has some of the best health care and sure, there's a cost to it. I get all of that. What is pathetic in my opinion is that we have so many uncovered and even for those with insurance, they live in fear of losing everything. I'm familiar with the fear because when my own father was diagnosed with cancer in September of 2001, that was his first comment. He was terrified of the cancer but even more worried about losing his life savings and leaving my mother with nothing.
Go ahead and make fun of France and the rest of Europe or Canada for the socialized health care systems, but you don't have people living with such fears. But in 2008, this is the state that the Republicans have left us in. Make fun of those who give a damn about the country as a whole and ignore the mean spirited attitudes that allow people like McCain to dish out a worthless program that offers nothing other than talk.
I would imagine that everyone who works for a living knows of a story where someone either went into debt or feared going into debt so opted for no health care or a bad choice. In my fathers case, he opted for VA care which was every bit as bad as they say. Are we really this mean spirited and selfish as a country where we will let others fall so far into debt only because of health? I sure hope not.
Since 1999, Keith and Deborah Krinsky of Magalia, Calif., have seen their health insurance deductible soar from $1,000 to $10,000.
And their health-care costs have put them in a financial hole.
A combination of Keith's chronic asthma and potential heart problems, Deborah's connective tissue disorder and fallen arches, and their kids' various scrapes and stumbles led them to amass a pile of credit card debt and forced them to refinance the mortgage on their house -- which they now are having trouble paying.
Keith, once a plant manager for a trucking company in Chico, took a $30,000 pay cut to get a job with better health benefits. Deborah, who doesn't work because of her disability, said they are still fighting desperately to stave off foreclosure.
"Right now, we are in the process of losing our home. We will probably go to my mother-in-law," Deborah said Monday.
