I have spent my vacation trying to help somebody I know navigate the medical system. I hadn't had a vacation in years. I was looking forward to some time off, then this person--who is uninsured--had a serious health problem, was hospitalized, and had emergency surgery. Of course, there were complications...
So I have been spending my time trying to find an access point for the person I know. This person will be OK for a variety of reasons, which I am not going to disclose.
I don't care if people get paid or not to post diaries here. I don't. Period.
The problem is a health care system where it takes me--someone with a Master's degree--to help a person who is struggling to get better find medical care. The problem is a system where people put off preventive care (this incident is the definition of an incident that could be prevented with better access) due to the high costs of medical care.
If people are lucky, when the shit hits the fan, they'll be around others, and somebody will call an ambulance. Then they can go to the ER, what Republicans claim is "good medicine freely available to the poor," and be stuck with $20,000 worth of bills.
The health care reform bills on the table aren't perfect. Max Baucus' bill is especially disappointing. But as long as people are pushing for plans which help people get medical care, I don't care who pays them.
Only the Washington insiders would think that who pays diarists here on DailyKos is more important than actually stopping abusive insurance industry practices (like recission). And of course, these same Washington insiders are completely silent about "journalists" are paid an average person's yearly salary for a one hour speech to a bunch of corporate hacks