Carol, as it happened, Roger's employer sold out to another company just after I went in hospital. Because the new owners were a big company, they were able to negotiate coverage for pre-exising and, with the sale of the station, health insurance went into effect that Feb, so yes, I did have insurance, though that is not why I had to wait five months before having the surgery; that was purely a matter of physical fitness. Even so, we are still paying off our portion with the hospitals and docs, five years later and there is no way Rog, who is eligible age-wise, can retire as 1) we cannot afford to be without his insurance, at the moment and 2)we cannot afford all of our expenses without his employment income. I do believe this will change, but it cannot happen soon enough, imo.

The whole situation of health care in this country, of all things, is absolutely criminal. This bill will be a start, as you say. I hope we can build something better as we go along.