Health Care is a Right, not a privilege

My Dream Death Panel: I would love to sit on the death panel reviewing the lives of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, the executives of the major health insurance companies, Sen. Charles grASSley, Sarah Palin and oh the list could go on. I know what I would recommend.

Health care is a right, not a privilege. There are three sides to this debate: those who wish health care for everyone, those want it completely privatized so corporate greed and profits run the system and only rich people get good coverage while everyone else is screwed, and there are those being controlled, scared and duped by those private interests (i.e., the stupid people).

Personally, I've been screwed by BCBSNC, but here are some letters from my newspaper, the News and Observer that are much worse than what I experienced.

Letter 1:

I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in January, had the surgery and the follow-up treatment; the last phase of the therapy was to swallow a radioactive tablet to kill any remaining cancer cells. My insurance company approved this treatment April 20; the cost of this pill was $32,850 plus an administration charge.

On July 20 we received notice that the insurance carrier had decided to deny coverage. The reason for denial was that it was not usual and customary treatment. The radioactive pill for this type of cancer has 50-plus years of clinical experience.

If 80 percent of the insured are happy with their policies, wait until they use them. I would rather have a government bureaucrat working to obtain the right treatment for my illness than insurance company wonks trying to increase their bonuses.

It's time for the health care industry to stop putting out falsehoods and outright lies, and the politicians to start working to improve the lives of Americans, not the size of their re-election coffers with lobbyist money.

Letter 2:

All of us in North Carolina, Democrat or Republican, need health-care insurance with a strong public option. For those of us on Medicare, we already know what peace of mind this insurance brings us. We can also have supplemental insurance if we choose.

Already the cost of health care is causing people to lose their homes, bankrupting small businesses and causing great stress on hospitals that ultimately take care of those without coverage -- that is, if the people don't die untreated and unknown.

This is not a question of Democrats or Republicans; it is a question of life or death for people; it is a question of the recovery of our economy.

A vote for health-care reform with a strong public option is a vote for the health of this country and for all of us, Republican, Democrat or other.

We need health care reform, and we need health care for everyone in this country. What we are getting is a phantom menace drummed up by special interest groups to scare the elderly and the ignorant (those without money that vote Republican).