A Health Insurance Tale

I have a close friend with some serious health problems right now. He's been healthy as a horse all his life, but now he's nearly blind from a (thankfully) benign brain tumor. He's also without health insurance; as a financial services professional, he's recently been turned out on the street with thousands of others who also were recently employed in that industry. An operation to remove the tumor and hopefully restore his sight is scheduled for later this week; we're all praying for a successful outcome.

What I want to know is, why is this man, who's been a productive citizen all his life, who has never had any serious health issues prior to this incidence, is without health insurance at the very moment that he needs it most? Why can't we get a public health insurance system like France or Canada? Why is this lie about "the government getting between you and your doctor" being spread by Republicans? And why are those self-same Republicans, who enjoy gold-plated, government-sponsored health insurance, so resistant to him and others like him getting similar coverage?


"They're not blind, they're evil. They see just fine." --A displaced New Orleans resident after Hurricane Katrina, cited in The Shock Doctrine