Health Insurance Sucks

Please tell me this is just normal bad AP reporting.*

Bowing to Republican pressure and an uneasy public, President Barack Obama's administration signaled Sunday it is ready to abandon the idea of giving Americans the option of government-run insurance as part of a new health care system.

Having had great insurance where I still I had to argue about what was covered when the ins. co. refused to pay covered expenses after-the-fact, no insurance, really expensive private insurance that didn't cover my "pre-existing condition" of migraines (which is the main reason I need medical care), and crappy expensive work insurance that doesn't cover my birth control (what I have now), I would like to have a choice about my insurance.

And I've been incredibly lucky. The only reason I have health ins. now is my job. I would like my grad school friends to be able to afford their medical care. Recently a friend moved back to Canada, and one of the reasons was so she could get basic heath care which she can't afford here.

I hate politics and the stupid people who would rather be afraid than think of how change might benefit someone else.

• Obama's Saturday address
• The heath reform website
• The white house website

*If you haven't noticed, AP articles tend to start out with a lie designed to get your attention and end with a nugget of real news at the end of the article that contradicts the first paragraph. The paragraphs in between just make the transition. I have started a collection of AP articles to use in my writing classes to demonstrate why "the news" is usually not considered a good source for academic papers. They seem to have gotten worse in the last few years, or I have developed higher standards.

UPDATE: Here's the AFP version of the story. See the difference.