You know, I would agree with you 1000% guest 3:12, if I really thought Kerry was going to fix the system once and for all with a major overhaul. But that doesn't seem to be what his plan entails. It really is just a bandaid approach that he is talking about. Whether his plan would help the situation or exacerbate it, I have no way of knowing. The medical system nowadays is byzantine, I don't think it can be reformed. It needs to scrapped, and a whole new system put in it's place.

But you do have my empathy. The thing that has bankrupted you, also bankrupted my mom, who is now in a nursing home on Medical Assistance to get the coverage and treatment she needs. I know all about the spend downs, etc. My mom didn't own a home or have any assets, so she went down the economic chute pretty quickly when she got started having health problems.

My mother in law has cancer for the third time in 15 years, and is 85 and otherwise healthy. Even though she has supplemental insurance to help pay for some of her drugs, there are two very expensive drugs that she can't get coverage for. It looks like she will lose the house that has been in the family for three generations, just to get the necessary care and drugs she needs to survive. Because she has the house as an asset, she doesn't qualify for energy assistance, etc. because between the house, her pension, and SS, she is worth too much on paper, despite being poor.

I would vote for Kerry if I thought he really would fix the system. But we saw what happened with the Clinton plan. That is why Kerry's plan is much more modest than that one was.