Michael Pollan

I found Michael Pollan's article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/opinion/10pollan.html?pagewanted=2&ref=opinion) fascinating.  It re-enforced my long standing cynicism, as it illustrated the point that often the only way to get a large corporation to behave in a moral manner is to hit them where it hurts - the wallet.  Thus, the way to turn insurance companies from "death boards" that find as many ways as possible to avoid saving those whose medical bills exceed a certain limit is to pass reform that forces them to take everyone on at the same rates.  Doing so would thus force them to have a vested interest in their customers, and as Pollan puts it:  

"Insurers will quickly figure out that every case of Type 2 diabetes they can prevent adds $400,000 to their bottom line. Suddenly, every can of soda or Happy Meal or chicken nugget on a school lunch menu will look like a threat to future profits."

So, considering the power big insurance holds, passing reforms that would make big insurance act morally may also be a big move in making big food act morally.  I eagerly await such reforms, but also fear the upheaval they would create.  In the short-term, if you were say for instance, a college student with no pre-existing conditions, your insurance rates just might skyrocket to keep pace with those with pre-existing conditions that suddenly must be covered - a hike that, as a poor college student, it would be hard to afford.  Don't get me wrong, I fully accept that I come into this with limited understanding, and admit that my hypothesis may be way off.

As much as my sketchy financial circumstances make me fear a hike, the health of my grandparents makes the passing of such reform seem quite pressing.  My grandfather is on his deathbed right now.  It's possible that he could live another few weeks or even months, but he's in his eighties with myriad health problems, and his doctor has said its only a matter of time now.

At his age, and with his chance of recovery, grandpa is an insurance nightmare.  Add in the fact that he has had alzheimer's  for the last five years and has had to take daily insulin shots for diabetes for as far back as my memory stretches (one of my earliest memories of him was him explaining his insulin pack to me, and getting hurt when the little needle took a drop of my blood to measure my blood sugar level), and no insurance company has any reason to want to cover him under the current system.  His medical bills are through the roof, and he and my grandma live in a trailer, so these bills will not go away anytime soon.

If I and others like me can find anyway to afford the coming hike, I believe it will be worth it to pass these reforms.  The medical attention my grandfather receives will not save him, but it could ease his pain, and I believe he and others like him deserve that simple human dignity.  Moreover, I would hope those like me who are not in pain now and might feel resentment towards a hike will have the foresight to consider how such a hike may ease their future pain.