Calif. GOP Assembly candidate in hospital with no insurance
Source: Hayward Daily Review
While most candidates spent the past weekend in a last-minute campaign push before Election Day, David Erlich instead was in a hospital bed.
Erlich, who is challenging incumbent Assemblyman Rob Bonta in the East Bay, underwent surgery for a perforated ulcer in mid-October. A week and a half after his release, he was back in the hospital with a bad gallbladder that will have to be removed.
The experience put the Republican, who is suspicious of the national health care plan, in the position of needing very expensive care -- with no way to pay for it.
Erlich does not know yet how much his hospitalizations will cost, but his care likely will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. "I don't have insurance," he said. "But I have every intention of paying it back."
Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_26856996/gop-assembly-candidate-hospital-no-insurance
= new reply since forum marked as read
who's bothering to run for Assembly in the oh-so-Blue East Bay. 
Because. Obama. Or something...
...........Though he is a Republican, Erlich said he is not opposed to social services.
"I'm 110 percent for a social safety net. Everybody is entitled to receiving care in emergency cases," he said.
But when the services being given away are nonessential, that burdens taxpayers and removes the incentive to take personal responsibility, Erlich said.
Asked what services are nonessential, he said he would talk to professionals to get their ideas on the subject.
