No More Fred Hollidays
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This is why many of us really don’t give a crap about politicians bellyaching about their political seats being endangered if they vote against health care reform.
Regina’s husband Fred died from kidney cancer on June 17th, at the age of 39. As the Washington Post explains, for years the Holliday family did not have health insurance, and thus was unable to afford the tests that could have diagnosed his disease earlier. By the time he landed a job that came with a health care package, it was too late to stop the cancer. Holliday now splits her time between caring for her children, working on her painting, and lobbying for health care reform.
I’ve seen this – to a less fatal result – in my own family. We need to stop this, now.
52 Responses to “No More Fred Hollidays”
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Compassionate conservatism on display, folks. Not everyone is a Rich conservative country clubber.
It helps when they’re not dead, you asshole.
You’re telling me a professor at a presigious Washington DC University can’t afford health care?!? I call shennanigans.
Shorter matt621: “Get a job you lazy bum!”
The economic Calvinists think Fred deserved to die
It would have helped even more if this family man decided to get some health insurance before he got sick.
I think it is horrifying that a husband and father died and part of the reason for it was he made the terrifying stupid decision to be a husband and a father and not have health insurance to protect himself as the primary breadwinner for his family. That is tragic on so many levels. Hopefully he at least had some form of life insurance.
You want to hand out fish, I want to give fishing lessons.
Buy a guy some chemotherapy and he gets better for a day, teach him how to give himself chemotherapy and he’s better for the rest of his life.
That sort of the idea of it, Matt?
For the wingers too stoopid to follow a straight line, the man was unemployed, couldn’t get insurance, THEN got a job as a professor, then found out he was dying. If only he had been smart enough to plan ahead and be rich.
matt, what about someone who has a job with health coverage, gets laid off and loses said coverage, develops cancer, then can’t get insurance because of a pre-existing condition? What should he do?
You’re telling me a professor at a presigious Washington DC University can’t afford health care?!?
I call stupidity. Save, you do realize that the point of the story is that he didn’t have health insurance until he got this job?
It was after he got the job and the health care that came with it, that he learned he had advanced cancer, cancer he could have caught sooner if he had health care.
Jesus, some of you guys are brain dead.
So he went from being an uneducated, unemployed schlub to being a fucking professor? We should all be so lucky.
The more I learn the less sympathy I feel for him not engaging in some simple planning to take care of his family.
mattt621: You want to hand out fish, I want to give fishing lessons.
And for those folks who can’t afford a fishing pole?
Shorter wingers: fuck’em. He was a college professor so he was probably a Democrat anyway.
The more I learn the less sympathy I feel for him not engaging in some simple planning to take care of his family.
DAMN RIGHT!
The SOB should’ve offed himself sooner so he wouldn’t be a burden on his family (and society)!
Save, you do realize that the point of the story is that he didn’t have health insurance until he got this job?
You do realize he had been an adult for 18 years before he finally got around to getting a job that supported his family. How old does one have to be before you are responsible for your own actions? 40? 65? Death?
The more I learn the less sympathy I feel for him not engaging in some simple planning to take care of his family.
What part of he and his wife didn’t have enough money to buy health insurance don’t you understand?
he had been an adult for 18 years before he finally got around to getting a job that supported his family.
What, does that tie George Bush for the record or something?
he made the terrifying stupid decision to be a husband and a father and not have health insurance
Good God! If you can’t afford health insurance premiums, you should remain single and childless? I knew conservatives generally take the side of corporations, but that’s going a bit far, don’t you think?
You do realize he had been an adult for 18 years before he finally got around to getting a job that supported his family.
And so he deserves to die. Nice.
This is exactly the conservative attitude that would have greeted the woman in Oregon did she not provide a convenient way for them to push their distortions and lies.
Do they have any solution for the woman in Oregon? No. They’ve got nothing but their fake outrage.
Pathetic, Save, just pathetic.
They’ve spent the last 24 hours being angry that 2 journalists weren’t killed in North Korea because it ruined their plans to blame Obama for it somehow. So this isn’t really surprising, is it.
I’m with Matt on this one. I personally knew two people who died thanks to not being able to afford health care, and it was their own fault.
The first one was unable to go to the doctor about his stomach pain until it was far too late. Obviously it was his own fault for not being able to afford health insurance-or much of anything for that matter. Good riddance to him. Maybe his widow will think to marry a wealthier man next time.
The second had to make a decision between his heart medication or his rent, and he picked the latter because he didn’t want to be a burden to his roommates. This one was clearly his fault because he was black. So what if he was only 22 years old.
I also knew a third whose family had to sell their house to help pay his medical bills, and he died anyway. But hey, a junior in high school was just a burden on our public education system. And his mother was Chilean so we can rest assured he’d have been on welfare in no time. His mom should be thankful. Thanks to our health care system she won’t have to look at the home her child grew up in.
Yessir, saner, less sociopathic folks might call these stories unforgivable tragedies. But not me. I can see things for how they truly are. I’ve got mine. Go fuck yourself. That’s the principle this great nation was founded on, not “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”. Who knows where that came from anyway. Probably some commie homo with no health insurance.
See, insurance works like this: You buy it first, when you don’t need it. And then when you need it, it pays you.
Assuming, of course, that the insurance doesn’t try to weasel out of paying out.
Why not? Unsurprisingly, the Post’s article does not offer an explanation.
Maybe because they can’t afford it?
So he went from being an uneducated, unemployed schlub to being a fucking professor? We should all be so lucky.
Who the fuck said he was uneducated? You’re saying that every single unemployed person in the world deserves to be unemployed?
When Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, et al trot out their sociopathy for all to see, it’s partly because that’s what they’re selling. Doesn’t make it any less abhorrent, but at least there’s a smattering of rationale behind it, which is more than I can say for the trolls here.
If there was a fair and just God, ghouls against public health care would have to go through the same kind of suffering the Hollidays (and too many others) have had to endure. As it is, we’ll probably have to settle for their brand of politics being repudiated for a long, long time.
Where does it say that he was unemployed and without health insurance for 18 years? His oldest child is only 10, so he should have bought health insurance for eight years in the expectation he would have children?
Is this thread all a wingnut plot to push the buttons of people with shred of decency or something?
Oy Vey, does that include all the Chickenhawk Senate and House members who refuse to sign up for the public option should it pass?
Jody, I think I love you.
I have two brief comments regarding the conservative reaction to this piece:
1) They’ve been very enlightening, though probably not how they think.
2) They’ve kind of given me the eebies.
Oy Vey, does that include all the Chickenhawk Senate and House members who refuse to sign up for the public option should it pass?
As has been explained over and over (and over…), the public option is for those who can’t afford or choose not to participate in private insurance. Which would not include, presumably, members of congress, each of whom are of some means.
“You want to hand out fish, I want to give fishing lessons.”
Wow, you sound alot like OXFAM. Aren’t they socialists?
What’s the rush? The so called “public option” wouldn’t go into effect until 2013.
Looks like Parthenon hasn’t actually read the bill. To be fair, neither has Obama.
Jesus, the wing-nut trolls here are fucking gouls. I’d love to see one of you tough-guys say some of your bullshit to his widow’s face.
First, insurance companies can simply tell you to fuck off if they think you’re too much of a risk. So don’t tell me “HURF DURF JUST GET INSURANCE” because it doesn’t work that way for lots of people with pre-existing conditions.
Second, insurance is incredibly expensive and out-paces wage growth by exponential numbers. People should have to pay for health-care (as they do in first-world nations in Europe and Asia, either through a monthly fee or through their taxes generally) but when the prices are as out-of-whack as they are in America, there’s a problem that needs to be fixed.
Third, as pointed out by our good friend Michael Moore, you can have insurance and think you’re covered until a non-medical pencil-pusher decides the live-saving treatment or medication you need is too expensive. Private insurance is broken because it’s based on profit, not making people healthy.
Reality. Facts. Reality. Facts. Pity the GOP is allergic to them.
“The so called “public option” wouldn’t go into effect until 2013.”
Yup. And when it passes, you can kiss any chance of GOP dominance away forever, at least for 50 years or so.
‘See, insurance works like this: You buy it first, when you don’t need it. And then when you need it, it pays you.’
Sure, for life, home and auto insurance they don’t find a pre-existing condition not to honor the contract. That DOES happen with health insurance run by a for profit corporation that doesn’t give a shit about your health.
Nice try though.
‘You want to hand out fish, I want to give fishing lessons.’
No you don’t; you want to justify the continued corporate greed that is fuelled by people’s misery, sickness and death.
Why the fuck would you want to do that?
See how the troll thinks that by flooding the thread with a neverending stream of crap he can further distract from the original point of the article, which is that our health care system is broken.
People are being denied care that every other first world nation takes for granted. But somehow, in his depraved, sociopathic little world, it’s the fault of the sufferer.
He could have saved himself a lot of typing by just writing “I’ve got mine; go fuck yourself”. Because that’s all he was writing, over and over and over again.
But he can’t bring himself to do that. He knows it’s monstrous.
So he writes and writes, in an attempt to drown out the tiny little voice in the back of his head; the one the rest of us call our conscience. Or civility. Humanity, even. And for a little while, he even succeeds. But he’ll be back, when the voice starts piping up again, reminding him just how ugly his rotten little soul is.
But hey, better to fill the internet with one’s mental diarrhea than to let a single undeserving person get the care reserved for his betters.
Matt621, if only you were a tenth as smart as you think you are.
Of course it’s worth mentioning other nightmare stories from the American health-care system, because the one OW linked is just one example of the tens of thousands of messed up scenarios going on in America, and it’s representative of why we’re going to get health-care reform despite your shrieking and bed-wetting.
Health-care shouldn’t be for free. Even in advanced nations with “free” health-care, you still pay a monthly fee or with your taxes. The problem is that modern civil societies have decided that getting sick or having an injury doesn’t mean you should have to sell your house or go into life-long debt. Further, it means you won’t be refused treatment because the care you need is deemed too expensive by a bureaucrat, as opposed to, ya know, and actual doctor.
A government option would force the over-priced, under-performing insurance companies to actually start offering care for a reasonable price.
Although we’d be better off with single payer. That’ll take longer to achieve, but there’s a reason why other first-world countries look at America and laugh at its failed, pathetic health-care system.
Maybe if Matt had made better choices in life, he wouldn’t have to have a second job. Maybe he was one of those arrogant conservatives who thought that the “free market” would reward him for his many skills, then he found out that being a fry cook just isn’t the career path it used to be.
“First, if pre-existing conditions were such a problem how was Fred Holliday able to get health coverage through his new employer’s health plan after he’d already been diagnosed? Try to keep the goalposts in place.”
God, you’re stupid. You do understand that employer based health plans have to take every employee regardless of pre-existing conditions, don’t you?
If you can’t get a basic fact like that right, why exactly should we take you seriously?
“Teaching someone how to fish is a lasting solution that leaves people in a self-sustaining situation. It sure sounds a lot less socialist than daily fish handouts and “government run healthcare.””
Teaching someone how to fish in a desert is pretty pointless though. When there aren’t any jobs available that give healthcare, kind of foolish to talk about fishing, amiright?
“Oy Vey, would that sort of suffering include having a 14 year old son with spina bifida? Paralyzed from the knees down? Unable to walk without crutches? Wheelchair bound? Unable to control his bladder or bowels? Learning disabled? Perpetually medicated? Unable to get himself from bathtub to bedroom without being carried?”
And if your son is unable to work as an adult it’s totally ok if he dies because he can’t afford medical care, correct? Don’t like teh socialism right? Unlike you, however, I actually care about your son enough that I want him and others to have coverage if he is unable to obtain it on his own. It’s a shame his own father doesn’t.
Enlightened Liberal, you have to make up that someone is a fry cook as a slur against him, but what is wrong with being a fry cook? You guys can’t write two sentences without your abject bigotry just oozing out from every pore, can you? You say you fight for those with lower paying jobs, but then you use them as clubs to bash people you disagree with.
Very enlightened of you. Very liberal, too.
Today’s enlightened liberals.
Maybe if Dennis made better choices in life, he’d be more than just a troll on liberal blogs. C’est la vie.
I’ve made most excellent choices, EL. Nothing puts me in better spirits for the workday than reading good comedy in the a.m. A morning run, a nice big cup of coffee, some good chuckles and I’m ready to tackle the world.
And I’d like to thank you for today’s good start.
You guys should really try it. You seem so down all the time. You guys won. What’s up with that?
Health-care shouldn’t be for free. Even in advanced nations with “free” health-care, you still pay a monthly fee or with your taxes.
That’s not how this plan is being sold. Obama’s out there telling everyone that their taxes aren’t going up. So either he’s lying or he’s intentionally vastly underfunding the system. You can see why either option would rile up the constituency.
but there’s a reason why other first-world countries look at America and laugh at its failed, pathetic health-care system.
There’s also a reason why when the leaders of those countries get sick, they come here for treatment.
Yes, farris, because regular ‘Merka has access to the EXACT same treatments than do multimillionaire foreign heads of state.
The current strain of conservative argument about health care–if you don’t have it, just go get a job–is one of the most childish and ignorant of history I’ve read in some time.
My story, which I’m sure is not only my story, is really simple. I had a job that gave me great health care. I hated the job that gave me great health care; every day I went into work sucked a little bit more of my soul away, but I stayed there for years because I had great health care (at least, that is to say, I presume I had great health care…I take care of myself so I never actually had to test the limits of my policy).
Eight years of Republican rule fucked up the economy and I was one of those who got laid off. So now I not only did not have my great health care, I didn’t have the income to afford a personal plan that matched the policy I’d just lost. And because the economy had been fucked by eight years of Republican rule I couldn’t just as easily find even another soul-sucking job to give me great health care.
And Farris and Dennis and whoever else tell you that it’s just as easy as “getting a job.” Farris and Dennis tell you that if you can’t find a job in this Republican-fucked economy it’s because you’re lazy and not trying hard enough. They tell you that you deserve soul-sucking jobs and insurance companies that will drop you at the first possible threat to their bottom line.
They tell you that this is the greatest country in the world and that you should be happy to live in this manner.
You know why somebody had to coin the term “compassionate conservative”? Because nobody believes that compassion is a quality otherwise inherent.
I didn’t say that, SpiderJ. But tell me, what industry were you in that it was the sole fault of George Bush that caused your lay-off?
And I didn’t say that it was “the sole fault of George Bush,” Dennis. But I appreciate your distancing yourself from Farris’ stone heart.
Insurance, somewhat ironically. Property/casualty, not health.
39.
“There’s also a reason why when the leaders of those countries get sick, they come here for treatment.”
Name one. And third-world dictators don’t count. Better yet, look at mortality rates by nation: America does OK, but it’s certainly not the healthiest nation in the world.
I didn’t say I distanced myself from Farris either, to be honest. I just know I didn’t say what you said I did.
How did Bush’s economy hurt you, though, working in P&C. Most P&C companies I work with got burned mainly from their investment portfolios from their managers taking on too much risk. Unless you’re blaming the whole CDS, credit meltdown on Bush. But every portfolio manager knew the risks, and every PM knew that housing market crisis was a possibility, they just didn’t fully account for it and they misjudge the severity. A very good friend of mine was one of those guys- he hated Bush and he read Krugman assiduously, and he worried about too many people relying on credit and home equity as far back as the Clinton years. We talked about it often. He lost his job eventually, but even though he hated Bush with a passion, he didn’t blame him for his being laid off. He blamed his company for being whores and putting out misleading reports about their financial health.
But anyway, best of luck to you getting back on your feet.
But every portfolio manager knew the risks, and every PM knew that housing market crisis was a possibility, they just didn’t fully account for it and they misjudge the severity.
Again, not blaming Bush solely. I am blaming Republican ideas about the free and unregulated market that encouraged such behavior from business-folks.
But sure, please, tell me more about how the economic meltdown had nothing to do with the Bush years. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, yes?