This is appalling. In the supposedly richest country in the world ......

[Stinky The Clown]

The **MAJORITY** of Americans had measureable health care cost issues in 2007 .... ***before*** the crash.

Just appalling.

[Hekate]

1. We have a Third World health care delivery system: if you've got money, you get great care...

"Rationing" health care? Hell yes we do that, and the ration coupons are hundred dollar bills.

Thanks for the pie chart, Stinky. I wish that every senator and representative in Washington DC had the same deep insecurity about health care for themselves and their families as the rest of us do until they fix the mess for the rest of us.

Hekate

[Stinky The Clown]

2. The study summar aized in that chart was excerpted in "Heart Insight"

Which is t he magazine of the American Heart Association.

I get it at my geezer gym.

[ddeclue]

8. Sounds like a great marketing name: GeezerGym.com

Go register it now if it isn't taken..especially with all of us boomers and Gen X'ers getting older... I think you've struck some gold friend..

:rofl:

[av8rdave]

3. And we rank poorly in the world when it comes to life expectency, infant mortality, etc.

yet the right insists that universal health care would be catastrophic.

The disconnect is unbelievable.

[Jennicut]

4. Its terrible. What good is great innovations in health care if no one can afford them?

[av8rdave]

5. Sadly, we've also fallen behind the civilized world in health care innovations....

Thanks to the politicization of science :(

[Jennicut]

6. True. We are pathetic and there is no excuse for this.

I am a diabetic and I know from reading food labels day after day that our food is crap and whats in it is horrifying. That is only leading to more health problems. Then people cannot afford the care they need. We really need to get it together as a country.

[av8rdave]

7. I sympathize...

My daughter is diabetic (type I). The means for effective lifelong treatment is almost in grasp, but here in the states we had to satisfy the fundamentalist whackos at the expense of everyone else. It's truly sickening.

[Jennicut]

9. I really hope there is a cure found soon...no child should have to be pricked 3 to 5 times a day.

I have type II, I got it after my gestational diabetes never went away after my second daughter. I am on insulin though and at 33 will be on it a long, long time. My endocrinologist never had a real explanation as to why it never went away as I am not overweight/obese and never had problems with blood sugar before but I bet there are lots of people out there like me with no history of diabetes in their families and no other problems. Good luck to your daughter, its tough to have to check your blood all the time and take insulin as an adult let alone a child.

[av8rdave]

10. Diabetes is hard on anyone...regardless of the type

My daughter has dealt with it for 10 years now (since she was 9).

Good luck with your situation. I know that gestational diabetes is more complex and less understood than originally thought in a lot of cases.

[Jennicut]

11. Thanks!

:)

[av8rdave]

12. My heart goes out to anyone dealing with diabetes - directly or a family member

[sohndrsmith]

13. This story made me (not ironically) sick to my stomach:

From The New York Post, March 7, 2009:

The unsung hero behind Madonna and Michael Jackson died yesterday morning, and the grieving family of David Williams is furious over the disrespect shown to him by the music community and by what they say was neglect by the hospital where he spent his last days.

Williams, who was 58, was the guitarist for the pop superstars and toured with both of them as well as Jessica Simpson, Chaka Khan, Lionel Richie and Van Halen for more than three decades, succumbed to complications from high blood pressure.

Williams collapsed and was taken to Sentara Hospital in Hampton, Va. where he slipped into a coma last week. While he lay dying in ICU, his family was urged to "pull the plug because he had no medical insurance," a family friend said. "The hospital was trying to force them to pull the plug. This man was a Vietnam veteran and gave his life to music and still had no benefits."

Jackson has announced a new tour and Madonna is still a top-grossing act. "But David, who supported them onstage all those years, has nothing," said the friend. " Deborah just wanted him to have some integrity, and instead the hospital was despicable at best over his lack of insurance."

On Thursday, the evening before Williams died, Deborah, who had four daughters with him, wrote us: "During this very difficult time where our focus should be on the nurturing and care of David, we are battling with hospital officials just to get and maintain the care he deserves, a hospital whose main interest lies in his ability to pay for his care." David, like many industry veterans, lived without adequate health insurance.

A music industry insider said, "What about NARAS ? What about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? They collect huge amounts of money every year to help musicians in David's situation - and they throw themselves parties instead. It's disgusting."

A rep for Sentara said she'd look into the situation but didn't return calls.
----------------------------------------------------
link to full article (I found it in the Huffington Post, which linked to this):
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03072009/gossip/pagesix/madge_guitarists_grim_death_158459.htm

[GeorgeGist]

14. Do you suppose ...

it's because feeding greed is an appalling waste of resources?