See You in the Emergency Room, Soccer Mom!

And your little brats too! I hope someone will give you enough money for that Hummer you've got there- perhaps that way you'll have enough money for his shots and that gall bladder operation you need:

By THERESA AGOVINO, AP Business Writer Wed Apr 26, 1:48 AM ET
NEW YORK - The percentage of working-age Americans with moderate to middle incomes who lacked health insurance for at least part of the year rose to 41 percent in 2005, a dramatic increase from the 28 percent in 2001 without coverage, a study released on Wednesday found.

Moreover, more than half of the uninsured adults said they were having problems paying their medical bills or had incurred debt to cover their expenses, according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund, a New York-based private, health care policy foundation. The study of 4,350 adults also found that people without insurance were more likely to forgo recommended health screenings such as mammograms than those with coverage, and were less likely to have a regular doctor than their insured counterparts.

The report paints a bleak health care picture for the uninsured. "It represents an explosion of the insurance crisis into those with moderate incomes," said Sara Collins, a senior program officer at the Commonwealth Fund.

Keep in mind Sara is talking about us "little people," and so to her "moderate" means anyone without a trust fund, but who isn't black and who has a job. Yeah, I'm bitter about this. Because I have not had health insurance in years, and when I did it was worthless. I also have health problems I'd love to get fixed but can't, problems that have the potential to kill me if left untreated long enough. But no one has cared about the poor like me for a long, long time when it comes to health care.

Ever been to an emergency room in an urban area? No? I bet I know why- you're afraid to walk in one, and with good reason. Hollywood hasn't done a movie that captures the terror, pain, agony and despair of Country General's ER at 10pm on a Friday night. But who cares, that's just black people bleeding their guts out while psychotic freaks chained to nursing stations scream uncontrollably and kick at anything that moves and crying children are left unattended for hours, having last seen their mother wheeled away begging and pleading not to be separated from them ...ok, I'm rambling so I'll stop now.

This is coming to a subdivided, overpaved, tastefully elegant-yet-understated suburban hospital ER near you soon. And for forgetting all of us and letting us suffer for no fucking reason whatsoever except the lack of political will? It's deserved.

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