Insurance Costs Rise

Last year, her health plan paid for surgery, chemotherapy and radiation to treat her colorectal cancer. This year, her employer switched to a new plan, which won't even pay for a $39 box of ostomy bags.

Bass, a 57-year-old school bus driver from Hazlehurst, Ga., is among a rising number of Americans with shrinking health benefits and expanding deductibles. Bass said her new plan costs $333 per month to cover her and her husband, up from $210. The plan also comes with a staggering $3,000 deductible. Though her employer put $1,000 into an account to help pay for medical bills, Bass has already spent half of it on prescription drugs and other expenses. She'll soon need to find an extra $2,000 before her insurance kicks in.

Easier said than done. Bass takes home $395 a month. Her husband's disability benefits bring in another $1,285. "We are completely broke," she said. Her oncologist ordered a PET scan to check whether the cancer has stayed away, but she doesn't know how much it costs or whether her plan will cover it. She's going in for the test anyway.

It's happening more often, and more people are having to choose between insurance premiums and groceries, and the insurance doesn't save them from financial ruin when the inevitable happens and they become sick or injured. The deductible on my plan is $7,500. It's pretty hard to just sit that aside in case we need it. And I pay over $300 per month for that coverage for me and my husband, no children. Compared to the insurance at his employer, there is no doubt we're lucky to have that.

Then you have assholes like Rick Santorum, who says health care for women should be limited, in case they should learn there is a problem with the fetus. "Prenatal testing, amniocentesis, does in fact, result more often than not in this country in abortions. That is a fact," as quoted by CNN.

The people are falling like a house of cards.  Too many were one check or disaster away from a financial death spiral, and those disasters are happening everywhere.  Fate has a funny way of kicking a man when he's down, and right now nobody is safe.  Single parents are struggling and going under, and people who were stretched a bit thin are now deep in the red.  Insurance isn't enough coverage, and costs so much that families facing hard times are tempted (or forced) to put their money elsewhere.

Or, like the news has said for the last five damned years, we're facing a healthcare crisis.  Gee, if only we had some plans on the table to make sure people had reasonable access to care and safety from greedy hospitals and companies?  Wouldn't it be nice if someone was trying to work a safety net so that fewer people hit that tipping point where there is no return?