Well, I always wondered what my first diary would be about and today we get to find out. I wish this could be cheerful, wonderful news but since it deals with our broken healthcare system......
The title of the story currently on cnn.com definitely caught my eye:
Man kisses ailing wife, hurls her from balcony
You can follow this http://www.cnn.com/... for the full story.
To summarize, a 51 year old man in Kansas City, Missouri was charged with 2nd degree murder for pushing his wife over their apartment balcony. His wife was suffering from neurological problems and uterine cancer. What exact neurological problems she had is not specified, but that was not her or her husband's primary problem. Their primary problem, as many of us sadly know, is they could not afford their medical bills. According to court records, she had been ill for several years and her weight had fallen to just 75 pounds.
According to the court records, she had no health insurance to pay for medical bills that ranged from $700 to $800 per week.
The Probate Court documents were filed in April, when Stanley Reimer petitioned to be allowed to sell personal property his wife owned in Wheeler County, Texas, for $20,000.
The documents listed her assets at approximately $6,700, with monthly income of $725 from oil royalties and Supplemental Security Income.
This is so sad. He felt the need to kill his wife (it may have been jointly planned, just my opinion) in order for the other to survive. These are the choices couples on limited incomes and heavy medical bills are facing. One must die for the other to live.
The truly ironic part of this is the husband will now have free healthcare provided he is convicted and sentenced to jail time. The only way for the wife to get free healthcare would have been to kill her husband and go to jail. Please read the full story, say a prayer for the husband and again contact your reps and senators and demand to live in an America where healthcare is not a for-profit business.
Note: If this has already been diaried, please let me know in the comments and I will delete.