A boy that beat every odd has one giant to slay: The insurance industry

Perfect example of why we need Universal Healthcare now!
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/061607dnmetdant.2f734b7.html
:cry:
>>>snip
CARROLLTON – When Ryan Dant was 3 ½ years old, doctors told him and his parents that Ryan had a rare, incurable disorder that would likely kill him by his mid-teens, if not earlier.
>>>snip
In the years that followed, Ryan was told he wouldn't get a driver's license (he did), he wouldn't finish high school (he did), and even if by some miracle he did those things, he'd be in a wheelchair – maybe with a breathing tube attached. A ravaged body certainly wouldn't let him play varsity baseball. (He did.)
>>>snip
Ryan's treatments require four-hour IV infusions every week. The enzyme medication costs almost $450,000 a year – "every year, forever," Lt. Dant said.
>>>snip
Ryan's coverage under his parents' plan is set to expire next year when he reaches his lifetime cap. At that point, federal Medicaid could pay the bills – but only if Ryan's annual income is at the federal poverty level, $10,210.

we have to look at the economics.....

Or,

maybe we can stop building so damn many nuclear weapons!

We don't nurse people. What would be the fun in that?

It took Rome five hundred years to fall. The way things are going, I bet we can do it ten. We're Number One!

he should be declared "ward of the state" so his finances are independent of his family's. That way he could possibly qualify for Medicaid.

Welcome to the US. If you have a chronic disease, you must go bankrupt to get it treated. We know, we went through Ch. 7 last summer. Hubby's dialysis costs $23-25K per month. That is not including the various surgeries he also needs, plus the medications he must take. (For those who might complain, he is only 60 yrs old, not in his 80s or 90s.)

He's a human being and he wants the treatments. In general, don't think we should force medical treatment on people and I don't think it should be withheld because of a patient's inability to pay. We're a country that can spend a couple hundred million a day on a war. We should be able to spend that much per day, if needed, to insure that every American has the health care they need. You won't hear any complaints from me.

in Washington years ago, and remembers vividly the testimony of an insurance executive who complained about "wasting" insurance money on people over 70-"they've lived their lives, we shouldn't have to waste our money on them", is what the man said. Since that time, it appears that insurance companies have decided that they shouldn't have to waste their money on any sick person.

It's sad but I can believe it. It wouldn't surprise me if the insurance guy who said that was a compassionate, right-to-life Republican either. He'll change his tune the moment one of his family members is adversely affected. They always do.

:cry:

to kill people that haven't done anything to us. I hope anyone needing the help can get it, no matter what the payout.

My favorite anti-choice argument to turn back on these thugs: "How do you know he won't someday cure cancer?" I've heard of some anti-choice people claiming that the person who was to cure cancer got aborted. Like they would know such a thing.

is so very important. We need to ensure that this election makes the choice clear - health care or bombs - energy independence or global warming. We can't do that by nominating a lukewarm candidate.

I'm not even going to say who is luke warm and who is hot - just that we all need to be assessing all the candidates with situations like this in mind.

What the hell??