Over at Marginal Revolution, I ran into an ad linking to a site demanding healthcare reform by pointing out the nice salary (and house) of the CEO of United Healthcare as evidence that we need reform. One citizen, Stacie Ritter, gives us her story of just how hard it is for her and her family.
So Stacie, this post is for you. It must be hard. Having a daughter (or daughters, couldn’t understand if it was one or both) or any child with cancer can be a traumatic event. I have sympathy insofar as cancer is a disease that often appears indiscriminate and it is especially sad when children are afflicted with it.
But the world is one where we are forced to make choices. Choices to have children, choices to raise them, choices to be their caretaker, the choice to be their teacher and their guide through their early years. Yet demanding that insurance companies cover the expenses of your children and child raising is a tough pill to swallow for a lot of Americans.
Insurance companies are not medical providers. Insurance companies provide a means for shifting the burden of risk at a cost. With this cost are certain limitations the insurance companies impose on the risks, and treatments, they will cover. In your case, the required growth hormones are not covered by their services (from the details you provide).
Your husband’s insurance doesn’t provide for the treatments. It is not the fault of the insurance company. It also is not the fault of the executives you lambaste to stoke your anger. The executives and the insurer didn’t give your child(ren) cancer. The executives and insurance companies abide by their contract. Their role is not one of charity. To shame someone for circumstances far beyond their control is not only offensive, it is repulsive.
You should be embarrassed. Not only for you, but for your children who you eagerly put in front of the camera to further your point. If we strip away the children and look at your demands for what they are – they are those of a rent seeker. Unfortunately, I have no sympathy for rent-seekers – those who leverage government to serve their own self-interest.
