The New York Times had an article the other day describing a report released by a group of health economists. They were looking at McCain and Palin's healthcare ideas, which to put it bluntly, suck. Click here to read the article.
Personally, I'm lucky enough to have pretty good health benefits. I don't really love the idea of a national health care system. However, our current system is a disaster. The insurance companies are corrupt and hospitals/doctors are charging way too much for their sometimes shoddy services. Right now, healthcare is unaffordable for millions of Americans - including children and it shouldn't be.
One of my co-worker's friends was just diagnosed with breast cancer - she's in her late 20's/early 30's. She put off going to the doctor because she didn't have health insurance and couldn't afford to buy it for herself. She was getting married so wanted to wait until she was added to her husband's health plan.
I realize insurance companies are businesses and need to make money, but I don't think it should be at the expense of a person's life. When she finally went to the doctor, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. It's already spread, so her chances are definitely not what they would have been if she'd been able to go to the doctor sooner.
It's easy to say she should have just gone to the doctor when she found a lump, but I can't say I would have if I wasn't insured. I would have thought, I'm young, it's unlikely to be cancer, I can wait. The cost of all that testing would have been prohibitive.
It just makes me sad that people have to make those kind of decisions.
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