WHY DO THE REPUBLICANS HATE CANCER SURVIVORS?

Well, not all Republicans hare cancer survivors. In fact, some Republicans are cancer survivors-- like 3 of the pathetic pygmies™, Giuliani, McCain and Frederick of Hollywood. Odd thing, though, those 3 cancer survivors are the very ones I'm talking about. Their health care proposals have lots of love for big medical corporations-- but not so much for consumers and none at all for cancer survivors. Today's L.A. Times explains how the anti-government party wants to deal with health care.

Oh, one caveat, the 3 cancer survivors above are all multimillionaires who have no worries about medical care. "Under the plans all three have put forward, cancer survivors such as themselves could not be sure of getting coverage-- especially if they were not already covered by a government or job-related plan and had to seek insurance as individuals." In fact an analysis of the 3 pygmies™ proposals by an economist from the Employee Benefit Research Institute says "People with preexisting conditions would not be able to get coverage or would not be able to afford it." Sounds like the GOP. The pygmies'™ plans seek to help their campaign contributors, not regular Americans. They want to "expand the existing private insurance system, offering new tax breaks as a way of helping people buy insurance individually. But they also want to avoid federal regulation that would tell insurers whom they have to cover and how much they may charge."

That means the self-employed and others seeking individual coverage would be subject to a marketplace in which insurers generally pick the healthiest applicants and turn the rest away. Cancer survivors-- even if they have been free of disease for several years-- are routinely denied health insurance when they try to purchase it as individuals.

Even if coverage is offered, it often comes with restrictions or high premiums that many find unaffordable.

In the individual market, coverage rules "are really quite fussy," said Karen Pollitz, a Georgetown University research professor who specializes in the field. "Most companies won't touch you if you have a cancer history within five years, and with some companies... if you've ever had cancer, you can't get coverage."