Harry and Marie

I do get it, Richard. We need some kind of universal health coverage.

"real-life scenarios"

Harry is in an unprofitable business, not the taxpayers job to provide for him.

Marie is why the system needs to be changed from employer paid plans to personal plans. Employers don't pay our house or car insurance and it's affordable so the only thing wrong with health care/insurance is the government made it a 100% tax write off for companies and just needs to change the law and call it taxable income.McCain knew that and moron nation voted for FREE and will get a crummy system just like it has with FREE public education and the wealthy people will be able to afford private care while the peons pay even more taxes an end up worse off.

Obomba and the rest of the union puppets in government will never make the simple fix because they want to expand the union voting base by turning over health care to the unions. It will give us worse health care once the unions take over hospitals and the government run insurance company that will end up squeezing out private insurance.

"Three months into her job search she finds a new lump in her breast. She now faces a choice that many Americans have to make. If she goes back to work she knows that in her state she will either be refused health insurance because of her cancer diagnosis, or if she is "allowed" to buy insurance, the premiums will be so high neither she nor her new employer will be able to afford them."

I am aware of no state that allows insurance companies who offer group heath plans to employers to reject people based on pre-existing conditions. Yes, it is possible that treatment for a specific condition may not be covered until a waiting period is exhausted, but they are not rejected from the plan itself. This is a perfect example of why a person like Marie, who has been previously diagnosed and treated for breast cancer should do everything humanly possible to pick up COBRA coverage so that they do not experience a 63 day lapse in coverage.

Another note - while some group health plans allow a difference in premiums for different levels of management, the cost of premiums cannot change based on a medical issue. In other words, if the other employees at Marie's new job pay $150/month, then that is the price Marie will pay too. And yes, with the addition of Marie, her employer's premiums may go up the following year, but that's not only Marie's fault. Those premiums are based on the experience ratings for the entire group.

Also, as an owner operator of his own company, Harry may not be required to carry workers compenation; however, since he has an employee I would venture to say he would be required to have this coverage. This could have alleviated some of his problems.