I did not want to inject this into the thread about the tragic death of Nathan Vredevelt.
But while reading about the tragedy, another tragedy within the tragedy stuck me.

Family Needs Help

The Vredevelts do not have health insurance to pay for their son's medical care.
When his father left his employer of 31 years in 2007,
he continued his health insurance until the COBRA maximum of 18 months was used up.
After that, four separate insurance companies denied them coverage, the family said,
due to their son's preexisting Down Syndrome condition.


"Health care is a privilege, It's not necessarily a right."

-Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn)

On Edit:

It does seem that the Insurance Companies made the right decision, financially speaking.
Look at all the money they saved by turning them down.
This is Healthcare in a free market.

Some states, Washington being one of them, have laws on the books that outlaw denying health care based on pre-existing conditions.

That should be mandatory, IMHO.

"Health care is a privilege, It's not necessarily a right."

THAT is THE BIGGEST bunch of Bovine Excrement I have EVER heard.

Explained by two small facts: (R-Tenn)

So much for the greatest country on earth.

And that is why insurance for employers is so expensive... somebody is paying the systerm for the costs of the uninsured.

Our family had some not small but not big medical bills in 2008. Big enough to meet the deductible on the insurance through my employer. Our share was large enough that I couldn't just write a check... and that was for a short hospital stay of three days. The hospital was very willing to give us a payment plan ... I suspect that getting anything on the bill is better than they can get from most of the uninsured.

""Health care is a privilege, It's not necessarily a right.""

"THAT is THE BIGGEST bunch of Bovine Excrement I have EVER heard."

Hmmm. Monkeyboy, I can't seem to locate the amendment to the Constitution that protects the right to health care. Can you point me to it?

Magic Eye (R-Ore.)

It is a right, insofar as receiving health care in a hospital emergency room. It's against federal law to deny someone basic care in a hospital emergency room. What Congress needs to do is expand that right, providing not only access to a hospital emergency room, but minimum health care coverage that expands beyond the emergency room setting. In the end, it may turn out to be much cheaper all around.

My biggest problem with medical insurance is, it's a for profit only system based on human pain and suffering. Maybe it's just me but something is ethical wrong with that.

I don't mind paying healthcare professionals for what they provide as far as services, it's the insurance companies that have created a system so backwards and profitable for themselves that disgusts me.

I’m a big supporter of a minimum level of health insurance for everyone, which I don’t see as being all that unreasonable. And I don’t necessary think private insurance companies should be locked out of the game – BUT I have serious reservations about their ability to hold down costs.

I’m sure scores of laws will have to be changed in order to accommodate comprehensive coverage. But I wonder if conservative GOP governors will balk at helping finance expanded coverage for their uninsured residents. I can hear Bobby Jindal and Mark Sanford harping about it. States would probably play a huge role in such a scheme -- in some sort of federal/state cost sharing arrangement. Perhaps expanding Medicare would be a better choice?

I want to see how the states will a role in this. Could you imagine what comprehensive coverage in Mississippi would look like vs. coverage in Oregon or Washington if states play a role in helping determine coverage?

I am glad to have insurance. My wife had a baby in December, where she went through inducement and ended up having a c-section. She stayed in the hospital for 5 nights, which was routine. We had no complications outside of having the c-section. Final bill: $27,000. I was somewhat shocked when I read the itemized bill. Some things seem to cost way more than they should. Luckily, we paid a $200 deductible and that's it. How to people without insurance have kids?

"How to people without insurance have kids?"

We did. First child with insurance cost more than the second child when we didn't have insurance.

With the second child the mid-wife/OBGYN offered a 25 percent discount. I then went to the hospital's accounting office and told them what the OBGYN offered as a discount. The accountant went and talked to her supervisor and they offered us 30 percent discount.

Fortunately for us we had set aside money for the birth of our second child. We were able to pay in full, minus the discount, both the OBGYN and hospital.

Family history indicated quick and natural births for all the women in my wife's family. Which is what we had in both cases.

So Vita you may have paid your $200 deductible as the final cost to your hospital bill, but what did you pay per month as a premium to earn that deductible?

Also I realize giving birth was much cheaper when we had our kids.

Both my wife and I are lucky enough to not pay a single dime for either of us. My son costs me $105 a month to be on my policy. So when it comes to health insurance, we have it good and know it.