In America, we take our pound of flesh and our profits wherever we may find them. In our U.S. health care system, the opportunities to profit are plentiful no matter the pain, illness, worry or other suffering inflicted. For me, I now face a decision I have faced at other points in my life, but this time I am older and allegedly wiser.

This is a story played out all over America in homes where hard working people who have health concerns are faced with unimaginable choices. Just a few short weeks ago, I had a really good job with decent health insurance benefits. My husband is on Medicare (he’s older), and we also have purchased a really good supplemental (not an Advantage plan) for him. He has heart problems, and having good insurance is literally a matter of life and death for him. So, he is our priority and has been for the past 20-plus years in terms of health coverage.

It wasn’t until several years into my previous, really good, job that a colleague pushed me to sign my husband up for his supplemental coverage through my employer-based plan. I had tried in the past, but somehow the paperwork never quite went through the HR department, and we had spent more than $300/month for four years on that coverage. Read more…

Originally posted August 7th, 2012 2:25 PM on MichaelMoore.com

My tweet yesterday said I’d write about the three pieces of mail I received from my insurance company, Aetna, this week. All three confirmed it. In their eyes and in every manner of decision they make, I am either a medical loss if a claim must be paid or I am a profit if they can deny me.

If only we had Medicare for all for life…

My first piece of mail from Aetna was the first round of denials of the medication my doctor ordered to help reduce my gut pain as diagnostic effort and other care continues. That instantly made me upset which also makes me feel worse.

If only we had Medicare for all for life…

But it was second piece of mail from Aetna that gnaws at me more. The letter informed me that my employer would be getting a rebate check since Aetna failed to meet the amounts they needed to in approved/paid claims. The letter was a bit celebratory in that it told me that my employer could choose to use the funds for other employee health costs, but I wasn’t celebrating. It would have made me happy and healthier to have my medication. Read more…

My cancer won’t wait and doesn’t care about what nine robed judges in Washington, DC, say about healthcare. Cancer doesn’t care. Obamacare. Romneycare. No matter. Cancer doesn’t care. But the nurses do.

Unrelenting and not fearful of any CEO’s rage or the loss of a political contribution, cancer, illness and injury march on. It is with that sort of fearless and unwavering force that the nurses of National Nurses United and the patients for whom they advocate are advancing the cause for healthcare justice.

We’re on the road in California bringing the message that it doesn’t really matter what the Supreme Court announces about the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that we all purchase private insurance or pay fines for not doing so.

I know, I know. All the hoopla. All the drama. All the buildup by the Republicans and the Democrats and the media falling all over themselves to say what the Supreme Court’s ruling means for November’s presidential election. But you know what? My cancer doesn’t care.

It doesn’t matter which way the Supremes take this. So long as the private insurance giants are in my life and in my body, those insurance companies do what they do to keep their costs down and make money. Read more…