Daring and Eloquent

That's what Georgie Anne Geyer called Obama's speech to Congress on a "crucial and complicated theme."

She's really angry with big insurance. I read through her article, and everything insurance, either private or government, is supposed to do, it has done for her. But she's still very, very angry. Her cancer sounded just awful, and one has to sympathize with her on that.

She battled cancer, but with her excellent insurance and terrific medical care and probably the latest in drugs and technology, she survived (this with lack of innovation and investment will all shrink under Obamacare). So what's she mad about? Her insurance was then cancelled. Legally. No tricks. She says they claimed she was an independent contractor and therefore not eligible for her employer's benefits. It's just like your car insurance if you haven't reported a DUI and later make a claim. I don't really know how they could do that unless she's filed that way with the IRS--but she doesn't go into much detail, and didn't deny it, just that she'd paid her premiums. A quick check with her syndicate's HR could settle that one. But they did pay for her cancer treatment. How many private contractors (free lance writers) should your syndicate have to pay for? Just you? What do the other writers do?

Have you checked with Timothy Geithner? He seemed baffled by the independent contractor rules too, and he's head of the IRS, formerly big poo-bah with the fed--maybe he could offer some sympathy.

Then she lauds Medicare and COBRA, both government plans, and AARP, a lobbyist for private insurance companies, which is apparently her supplemental coverage for what the government plans don't cover.

Well, lady, what do you think the rest of us old people are complaining about? The elders in the USA, many of whom aren't quite clear that Medicare IS socialized medicine, don't want to lose what they have, they like it. And you, by supporting Obama's "daring and eloquent speech" on a "complicated theme" (which seems to evolve each time he speaks on it) are trying to trash it.