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The Philosopher King, John Sununu, waxes no-gummit-ish in the elite DC air of the rarefied upper reaches of the Capitol dome, safe in the knowledge that he is protected by a premiere health care plan at the expense of the rest of us.
Meanwhile - there's the rest of us:
Quint Stires doesn't remember whether he even bothered to vote in 2002, when Republican John Sununu won election to the U.S. Senate by defeating Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. And he definitely wasn't concerned about the health care system -- he had a high-paying corporate job and good benefits that covered his healthy family of four.
But four years later, Stires was diagnosed with advanced thyroid cancer. In a matter of months, he had quit his job after becoming too sick to work and his wife lost hers as the emotional and financial burden of his illness took its toll.
...Until his wife found new work, the Stireses paid $1,018 a month to extend their health insurance plan. They now pay about $320 a month, but she works two jobs and can't take time off to bring him to the hospital for cancer treatments.
When he picks between the same two candidates in November, health care will be the top issue on his mind.
The opening lines of this AP article really hit me hard. Without getting too personal, let's just say that I have seen firsthand the price of chemotherapy treatments at top-notch facilities like the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock. There is no choice for the average earner but to face bankruptcy in the face of those kinds of bills when one doesn't have health care.
To be fair, Senator Sununu has also recognized the high cost of health care in this country, way back in 2006. And the No-Gummit Philosopher King already diagnosed the problem in his inimitably sympathetic way:
"This may be the most bizarre recommendation, but I am sincere," Sununu said. "I'm not saying it's not an issue or it's not important, but proportionally speaking, stop complaining about health care."
And in the way of a man whose core principles are one with a radically free, radically unregulated marketplace:
If there's a glimmer of hope, it will come from open markets, said Sununu, who broke with the White House in 2003 to vote against the Medicare prescription drug bill because it restricted price competition.
Health care "is so darn expensive," he said, "because it's worth it."
Now, don't you feel better about being one illness away from financial ruin, in this, the richest country in the world?
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