Man joins the army to get health insurance for wife's cancer
This story is just one of many thousands about Americans who have lost their jobs, lost their insurance, and who are desperate for help. What Bill Caudle is doing is more than courageous. Man, oh man, how far would you go to make sure your partner got appropriate medical care?
I blogged last year about my friend with cancer. When I posted about her last year, she was leaving New Jersey for Texas to start a new life, freshly freed from the shackles of a 23-year marriage to Mr. Not Quite Right in the Head**, having undergone treatment for cancer. Guess what? Her cancer's back. She's terminal. Stage Four, CA numbers climbing, at least one visible mass and its probably in her bones at this point. She's on a state health plan, so there aren't going to be any miracles, any fancy new test drugs or treatments. She lost her good insurance when she left her old job, and she is now on disability. In the article above, Bill Caudle talks about researching his state's public health care option and knowing that it wouldn't provide sufficient coverage for his wife's cancer treatments. Its just plain wrong that our health care is a classed system, that only people with money can get better treatment. Bill Caudle worked hard at his job for 20 years, his family shouldn't have to be going through this. My friend has always been a working, contributing member of our society. She has raised two smart, capable children. Now she has to utilize the dregs of health care options, why, because she is divorced and can't no longer work because of her illness? Give me a fucking break.
I do think the administration is missing the boat by not targeting tort reform right along with health care reform. We can't reduce the cost of health care procedures until we can get the cost of malpractice insurance lowered. We can't lower the cost of malpractice insurance until we put reasonable caps on award amounts for medical malpractice suits. And we can't control the cost of the insurance until we get control over the insurance companies and put them back on task taking CARE of their insureds instead of giving their CEO's billon dollar bonuses. Its all related, folks. Its a big job, yes. I think that until we boot the professional lobby out of Washington and overhaul Congress we'll never see real change. We voted someone into office who we felt would bring change, who would BE a change - but I think we're all realistic enough to understand that the status quo in Washington DC hasn't budged an iota.
Is the problem too big to tackle?
***Note: This post edited for names. My apologies to my friend, I did not realize YOUR EX HUSBAND WAS STALKING YOU ON THE INTERNET. WHAT AN ASSHAT.
