If four-month-olds are being denied health insurance coverage, is anything sacred?

I agree with you. I have said for years that the people who are against health care/insurance reform are the healthy ones, or the ones who have money to pay for care and or insurance. the rest of us that actually have problems get denied. We are in the same boat as you. We work and our income is too high for help, (we are only considered lower middle class), but our premiums are $50 a visit to see a doctor. I pay over $350 a month for our prescripltions, (3 of us have chronic allergies & take medicine year round), and any hospitalization requires us to pay a $10,000 family co-pay. My son had surgery when he was 4 yrs old, we just finished paying off the co-pay last year when he turned 9! I have needed surgery for years but cannot afford the co-pay. The story is the same...rich folks pay for it & the poor get it free. Only us dummies who are middle class get screwed.

It is people like you that make it almost impossible to afford health ins. in this country. I'm sorry your little girl has asthma, but you just said she hasn't had a case in years. Why the 4000 dollars a year just for her meds. And if you are only 35 with all of these problems maybe you should consider a more healthy lifestyle. Asthma is not a decline in underwriting maybe a rider. Sorry I don't believe your story.

bobby, her meds are what keep her from having a flare-up. Asthma is a chonric disease with no cure--once you've got it, you're stuck with it for the rest of your life. There may be times in your life when it doesn't bother you at all for a few years, and then suddenly it's back to its old tricks again. I'm an asthamatic who is fortunate enough to have insurance, but I can barely afford the medication even though the insurance pays most of the cost! Mine's mild enough that it doesn't cause much trouble unless I have a cold or flu, but it still acts up during allergy season. The idea of most asthma medications nowadays are PREVENTION. But unfortunately, these preventative medications--which keep children like this child out of the hospital and from ending up with thousands of dollars of hospital bills--aren't cheap. I'm pretty sure one of my medications cost about $200 without insurance. And thanks to the EPA forcing a change in abuterol inhalers (which is a RESCUE inhaler that ALL asthamatics need), they can no longer be bought generically.

My family spends $808 a month on health insurance not including co-pays and medications. ( medications are $450 a month and co-pays vary but are around $350 a month) We have to pay this because my husband makes to much money for us to get any state aid. We have 3 children 1st is 7 years old she is autisic and has fontal lobe syndrome. 2nd is 5 years old she has to have O2 on most of the time she has to wear a SPO2 monitor to conferm that her O2 levels are high enough. She also has an enlarged heart and seizures. Our 3rd child does not have any heath issues. This is not a life style issue. We just had bad luck with in the draw. I did not do anything different with each child. I had the same doctor in all three pregnancies. I did not and do nor smoke, drink, take street drugs or drink caffine because of the possible effects that it could have on the fetus. We are having to pay the high insurance cost but it could be worse we could be with out insurance. Our insurance company as of October 1st had paid out $350,000 that is not claims, that is pay out for this year alone. We have no choices anymore if my husband were to loss his job we would be homeless with no insurance within 2 months. This is not far and something should be done about it.

Recently, VP Joe Biden said (paraphrasing), "It is time we all got used to the idea of a nuclear Iran."

In the same sense, maybe it is time we all accepted the fact that our technology has exceeded our resources. While we have discovered and developed capabilities to repair & heal all sorts of medical conditions, the cost is simply too much.

Suppose the cure for AIDS was to live on the Space Station for 6-months, at a cost of $20 million per person. With 500,000 people in the USA with HIV/AIDS, that would be $10 trillion dollars. The USA's annual GNP is not much more than that. Could we afford to spend all of our resources on ~0.1% of the population? If the cost was only $2 million person, now, that would only be 10% of our GNP. So, yes we COULD!! But, WOULD we?

Let's be honest - we do not have the RIGHT to live forever. We do not have the RIGHT to be repaired and healed of our afflictions. Life is not fair. I am not being callous. I am simply being honest. Some may say, "But what about the children?" OK - what about them? What about the those adults who can not have children? Is that fair to them? How much are we willing to spend to solve/cure their infertility? Do those adults have the RIGHT to be parents??

Again, we need to accept some realities. The cost of health is EXPENSIVE. There are wondrous things that we have learned to do with science. But - they are EXPENSIVE. And no legislative or executive decree is going to change that reality!!

Another thought... some of you believe that a "national health care program" AKA, "socialized medicine" is the solution to these problems. WRONG!! The reason that you have to wait in Canada and other countries is because they RATION their health care. Norwegian officials flat out declare it. They have stated that they will not spend 80% of their health care resources on 20% of the population!

They engage in what could be called "financial triage". If the cost is high and chances of success are low, they simply refuse to treat you. In China, if you are a smoker and you develop ling cancer, they make little attempt to heal you. They will try to ease your discomfort, but, they will let you die.

If your condition is not serious, they will hold off treatment in hopes you'll learn to cope, or travel to the USA to pay for your won treatment. (Ask the Canadians!)

These other countries have accepted the reality. It is time we did too!!

Bobby, you want her to change her lifestyle? A lot of diseases (like autoimmune conditions and cancers) can strike people of any age regardless of lifestyle.

At age 15, I developed a life-threatening autoimmune condition. I was of normal weight, ate a balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, and exercised regularly. I did not smoke nor was I sexually active - in other words, I was not engaging in any risk factors associated with SOME diseases. I had no other health issues before this struck me totally out of the blue and completely changed my life. I've almost died three times and now take about 5 maintenance medications per month at $15/each. I have weekly labwork at $20/each. I have at least 1-2 doctor's appts per month at $20/each on top of paying my regular premium of about $100/week. I also have to pay back $1200 for tests that were not covered by my insurance because my annual deductible is $2000 (fortunately, the hospital is allowing me to pay this off at $60/month).

Before you accuse this poor woman of not taking care of herself, please educate yourself. She could have inherited or acquired something through no fault of her own.

All of the people who say that health reform is not needed...y'all are very lucky that you aren't sick. Just wait until this happens to you and then you may finally understand why so many of us are so p**sed off with the current system.

Easy, DIVORCE your worthless husband who hasnt worked in 6 YEARS. Sell your business and get on medicaide. Single mom who earns less than 1,200 a month=100% covered for food stamps, medical, welfare money (for 2 years). Then go after your husaband for child support, because it sounds like he supports nothing at the moment.

You state that your daughter's meds cost $350 which means that you are asking the insurance company to assume guaranteed costs of $350 a month plus the chance that she will need additional care. A $600 a month premium breaks down into $350 for medication and then $250 a month to cover the risk to the company that your child will need other medical care. Since your child has a chronic disease, that $250 a month for insurance sounds pretty cheap to me.

Why would an insurance company EVER write a policy where it is guaranteed that they will lose money on the policy? The pool of funds that policyholders pay into the insurance company is the only money that the company has to use to pay the healthcare costs of all of its policyholders.

You've stated that a government run pool is available for your daughter, but you have chosen not to use it. You are not looking for insurance for your child. You are looking for a handout. You want other people to pay for the healthcare costs of your child and that simply is not fair.

Your child's health should be a high priority for you. Perhaps you need to downsize your lifestyle so that you can afford to care for your child. And don't state that you cannot get health insurance for your child. The fact is that insurance is available but you have chosen to not insure your child so that you have more money to spend on other things.

I also have chronic conditions and I pay 20 times more each month on health care than I do on entertainment. I don't expect others to pay for my health care so that I can go out more often.

We don't need national health care. We need Americans to stop expecting constant handouts.

try disability at the SS!! I know a teen who gets it and medicare because of her asthma...it will be awhile before health care is resolved...so try for that in the meantime...she is unable to have the quality of life a normal person has..she is disabled..it isn't about "working"....

I find it interesting that NO WHERE in the article does it actually tell the childs weight. If it is SO obese that it is unlikely to survive...i understand the decision. This seems like an article the media puts out just to get peoples blood boiling about all this heathcare reform

lynn2 - i agree...but would add that those who oppose reform have never had to USE their insurance for anything more than a runny nose and have NO CLUE what medical care costs - even when one HAS insurance...

$300 for 8 pills, i'm a paramedic and from a clinical standpoint and just general curiousity would be interested in knowing
what med costs that much

I live in NY and my husband and I are both on Medicaid; I am a Full Time college student and he works as a truck driver. He earns about 500/wk, give or take 50 or so, and our four kids are on Medicaid. We lived in Texas and Florida and NY is by far the best. In Florida, we paid for health ins. and it was ok, but doctor's visits were $20 and prescriptions were $20. In TX, we had no ins. of any kind, and paid thousands for dental, and I had to use a clinic for dr.'s visits; $100 one time to get diagnosed w/ a UTI! Then paid the Rx cash. Root canals; I paid for two, and crowns on top, then ran out of money for me. My kids needed fillings, X-rays, etc: all out of pocket. TX has no dental ins. at all for poor kids. Here in NY the kids go to the dr. and dentist free; Rx's are free. My daughter's asthma meds are over $400/mo: paid in full by Medicaid. No co-pays. Dentist visits, X-rays, fillings, free. My husband and I see the dr. $5 a visit. Dentist $5 a visit; some things cost a little; a root canal was $450. The Medicaid paid for my daughter's nebulizer, her inhalers, her monthly Advair and Singulair, everything: FREE.

Heather, the problem is that with no one overseeing the entire system, corruption is everywhere. Sure, there is good out there, but shouldn't we have a system available that is reliable and doesn't require jumping through hoops to get what is needed? People who are wiling and able to pay for their health care should be able to count on it being there when it is needed. The problem with health insurance for profit is that it is NEVER in their best interest to pay a claim, so it makes perfect sense for them to try to deny every claim. The system needs to be turned around! In a not for profit system, the impetus could be placed on good care rather on profits. In my view, this by definition must be better. After all, it is basic common sense that people will act according to what their best interests are. If a company is rewarded for making money.....well then, that will always be their overriding goal.

Your cousin had surgery and they wrote off the cost? Who do you think ultimately foot the bill for that? YOU AND I! (the government) they wrote it off because they knew they would never get their money, and the gov. will subsidize them for their loss. sorry, your argument does not hold water

@willer: "and why should i have to pay for it for someone that is too stupid/lazy/fat/etc. to try to get a job to get their own insurance?"

Guess what, genius. Most business in this country are small businesses whose owners can't afford to subsidize health insurance for their employees. And they don't pay wages high enough for people to "get their own insurance." "Too stupid, lazy, fat" to get a job? Wow, you must live in Oz or somewhere over the rainbow where the economy is great and jobs are plentiful. Can you idiots not see farther than your own *icks that you can't understand that people need help? If the management of big corporations was not so greed-based, more people in this country could have a better life. THINK!!! instead of blindly believing (and repeating) what your lunatic, unpatriotic, treasonous, conservative gurus tell you.

Responding to elantary's sophomoric rant:
You wrote: "instead of blindly believing (and repeating) what your lunatic, unpatriotic, treasonous, conservative gurus tell you."

It is people like YOU who are blindly believing the propaganda. These insurance companies that you deride are essentially your fellow citizens. When you file a claim, the cost is not born by some rich smuck with unlimited financial resources. WE, your fellow citizens, bear that cost. Insurance companies are "collectives". We pool our resources together and we pay the insurance company a portion of those premiums to manage those resources.

That does not mean they always make the right decisions. That does not mean that they can not be greedy.

But - when YOU demand that OTHER CITIZENS pay for YOUR health care, aren't YOU being the greedy person??? Liberal idiots like you believe that resources grow on trees and that there is an umlimited supply.

You remind me of the story of the goose that laid golden eggs. You are not content with one egg a day. You demand more and more. And when the goose delivers only one egg a day, YOU accuse the goose of being greedy! Yet - it is YOU who is greedy!

Do you want to know who is truly responsible for YOUR health care? Look in the mirror!

It is clear that your intellectual abilities are limited, so let me offer an illustration. Contrary to liberal philosophies, you are not entitled to a public education, nor a diploma. We, the taxpayers/citizens, have decided that we will offer you an educational OPPORTUNITY at our expense. However, that offer carries some responsibilities. You have to show up in class and behave yourself. (There are OTHER students as well!) If you fail to behave, you can be kicked out of school. More importantly, you have to do the work. You have to study! In short, whether or not you get an education, is up to YOU. It is YOUR responsibility.

What you are NOT entitled to is:
- an eduation at the most expensive private schools
- the same education as the rich
- good grades (you have to earn them)

Is it fair that a poor child can not afford to go to the same school as the rich child? Is it fair that some children are blessed wih more intellectual capabilities than others Nope, but, that is the way of life.

The same applies to health care. You make choices and do your best and accept what life brings you. You are not entitled to ANYTHING at someone else's expense.