re: #4 leftynyc

First, let me say how sorry I am for your loss. My mom died of pancreatic cancer 30 years ago. It was ugly. Very ugly. Thankfully, insurance hadn’t collapsed back then do my dad didn’t have to go bankrupt for the four years my mom was either in a hospital or nursing home.

Unfortunately, an average person barely stands a chance, either.

Today that would have been completely different.

Your parents had various insurance help (supplemental, LTC) where few do (perhaps through AARP, not sure how that works). An average person having worked at an average company doesn’t get benefits once they’re no longer there. (Which is why this whole GOP turning one set of workers against the other is do infuriating. Why race to the bottom? Why not race to the top? Anyway, that’s a rant for another day.)

There’s no ER that handles cancer treatments (another GOP talking point). The cost of insurance before getting one iota of care is itself prohibitive. Getting care when you’re really sick and unable to work? Good luck once you no longer have insurance.

The whole discussion surrounding healthcare is so infuriatingly frustrating because it’s all lies and bullshit. Just this morning a GOP guy was on tv espousing the wondrous healthcare system we have saying that everyone can get care for anything. Worse yet, the talking head bimbo let that go.

How do you even have a conversation under the weight of the lies…mostly fear inducing lies? You can’t. And for that, we’re fucked.

I used to have respect for conservative values (I still do, except now they are democratic values). When the crazies took over, there’s nothing left to respect about the GOP. At all.