We are our own worst enemy

We had a drink fest last night with my son and his wife (though she limited herself to two chardonnays). It was his 31st birthday and we were celebrating he was alive. Last year he had a brain tumor removed, underwent extensive chemo and radiation and now is supposedly cancer free. Today, he is a shadow of himself, underemployed (going from $65k to $14k), has a stack of medical bills, and his COBRA is going to run out. His beautiful body is ravaged from chemo, his teeth are rotting out from radiation (after spending a fortune on those teeth when his was a kid). Now he and his wife are considering separation. Stress does that to you.

Anyway, the beers flowed, the laughter began to build and we talked of old times. Even the teeth couldn't destroy that beautiful smile. I was feeling good. Hopeful.

Then, in the middle of the evening, they brought up the "government take over of health care" and its plot to run our lives. We needed to be aware and fight it. I was shocked.

Here was a classic example of why we need health reform, and these two have swallowed the fear mongering rhetoric and were staunchly opposed to the President's plan.

My son was a hard working man in the East Texas oilfield when he collapsed from convulsions brought on by a brain tumor. Because a few months earlier, he left a job for a better one, at the time he collapsed he was in the waiting period before his new health insurance would take effect.

He purchased COBRA insurance from his last job. When his new insurance started to take effect, it wouldn't cover the pre-existing condition. But never the less, when COBRA ran out and the new employer's insurance would have to kick in, he was let go for a driving infraction. It could be a coincidence. The oil patch has been shutting down anyway. A lot of hard working people are out of work.

My son has not been able to find serious work, and of course this being Texas, he was denied unemployment insurance. I told him to appeal, but he is too proud.

Now his wife has insurance. She asked her employer to enroll her husband during open enrollment. That was denied because of pre-existing conditions.

These two have fought a hard fight to put dinner on the table for their three children and put off creditors. But they work. They work hard when they can find it. They really don't seek handouts. They just want to be treated fairly.

These people are opposed to health care reform because their oilfield friends told them that it was a way to control their lives. We are our own worst enemy.

We changed the subject and started to laugh about my prostrate cancer.