In and out of hospitals his entire life, [Ian] Pearl has lived the last 18 years on a ventilator hooked to a tracheal tube. Although the procedure is known for helping those with muscular dystrophy live longer, it can come with a cost: the need for 24-hour medical attention. The insurance policy purchased by Ian’s father in 1981 provided for such care.
But Guardian Life Insurance, which is based in New York, notified the Pearls that it was dropping Ian’s coverage in December as part of a companywide restructuring of its insurance policies. This past year, Pearl’s medical expenses totaled almost $1 million.
A memo unearthed by Pearl’s attorney referred to costly cases like Pearl’s as “dogs” the company needed to rid itself of. — Miami Hurled
Read that closely, wingnuts, as you wave placards likening universal health care to Nazism. You gullible pathetic lickspittles, you.
What you’re reading is proof positive that in fact there exists the “death panels” you rant about, faceless bureaucrats who determine, using dollars and cents, who among the insured will live or die. Except they’re already here, and they’re not your socialist government. They’re insurance company executives modifying their policies to ensure profits for the company’s stockholders.
This is Exhibit A of the private insurance companies’ thinking about health care you’re so concerned about preserving, certain that the American health care system (”the World’s Best!”) will tank if we remove its control from enlightened executives like these.
And that sniveling rat bastard writer of memos called somebody else a dog?
Caught with its corporate trousers ‘round the ankles, Guardian apologized to the Pearls and restored coverage, but not without regret. “We tried to do what is best for all concerned,” explained Stewart Drewel, speaking for the company. “Dumping a handful of expensive terminals would have allowed maximizing care for the majority, including investors. What’s another dead cripple, anyway? What, there ain’t enough already clogging the system, particularly with two wars going on?”
Maybe we DO need death panels. I volunteer.
Obalesque 
The author of the “dog” remark said nothing outrageous or unusual in by industry standards. His task was to save the company money and maximize profits. He could just as well have been speaking about widgets that cost more than the market would pay.
So long as the provision of health care is regarded as a money-making enterprise, there will be great gaps in its quality and availability.
Esq: it’s always about money.
and vell it should be!
How come the ones who screech about “socialized health care” don’t worry about “socialized homeland security” or “socialized crime prevention?”
In matters of life and death and health care, I totally fear the insurance companies more than the government. This is a fine example of why. In a worst-case scenario, the insurance company will let you die rather than pay a bill, while the government may not care one way or the other.
Great system.