let's get radical

My brother Ronnie, much to his dismay, is back in that Philadelphia hospital -- fever, pneumonia remnants, fluctuating blood counts. I talked to him this morning, he's depressed and scared. And he's very unhappy that he's back in that dingy little hospital room. This has been a long, awful ordeal for him, and I'm sure he also is stressed at the financial implications of this period of no income and unknown medical costs.

Then I called my cousin Bev to update her on Ronnie's condition, and that was another sad phone call. Bev has gone through hell with breast cancer and the treatments 0ver the past two years and is now dealing with overwhelming medical bills and no job and the possibility of losing her home because of this illness.

... and while they and millions of other people have to struggle with the financial trauma of medical catastrophes, the U.S. House of Representatives voted last week to repeal the Obama health care law, the benefits of which haven't even kicked in yet. The bill will not survive in the Senate so repeal won't happen now at least, but I am disgusted that these Congresspeople would be willing to sell their souls for the insurance companies and go back to disgraceful policies that have already destroyed so many lives, which the Obama law only begins to correct. Shouldn't there be some innate benefit to being an American citizen? Can't obscene profits be taken out of the health care system? If that is socialism, then I say, Bring it on.

My feeling is this: Nobody should be making a profit on somebody else's cancer. There has to be a better way, and, if government is the answer, then so be it.