I didn't see a diary on this, so I' wanted to direct some attention to this hearing.
Elizabeth Edwards is testifying today about the issue of medical bankruptcy. The Burns family is testifying about how the death of their ill child drove them into bankruptcy. An economist is also on the panel, suggesting that the bankruptcies are not so numerous as Edwards and others may suggest.
I don't know if this will be archived, but you get to hear certain (Republican) Senators pontificate about how easily one may take advantage of bankruptcy, perhaps by purchasing no insurance, then going bankrupt once they get massive medical debt. Wow, that's a plan I hadn't considered! I could furnish my house with all sorts of fancy stuff, then hope one of us gets severely ill so that we could avoid paying it off!
My favorite new Senator, Al Franken, had a sweet exchange with the economist. He asked her about the number of med bankruptcies in France, Germany and England (?) last year. The answer being, none. She pounced back with a question about their cancer survival numbers. Good Ol Sen. Franken was ready, stating that her particular argument was a game of statistics, and counted only certain kinds of cancers. I do love that man, and I love that Republicans continue to discount him as some sort of comedy clown. Didn't he graduate Harvard?
Head to CSPAN.org and catch the rest of this hearing!