My Oped on Sen. Talent and the No Insurance Co. Left Behind Bill

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U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, a former Washington lobbyist, has announced his support for SB1955. This bill is being marketed as a means to assist more small businesses in providing insurance to their workers.

In order to do this, the bill strips vital consumer protections, guts mental-health parity and will result in fewer procedures being covered by insurance companies. That is a lot like saving money on the price of a car by not including the transmission.

The AARP stated that the bill puts "older workers at significant risk" in part by putting "critical benefits - like cancer screening - out of reach for many Americans." The bill is a dream for insurance companies, but leaves public health to the mercy of those companies.

Senator Talent also recently voted to cut Medicaid at the federal level knowing full well that Missouri had just made the most drastic cuts to Medicaid as any other state in America. Playing games with health care may save money in the short term but the human cost is more difficult to measure.

If you don't believe me, just ask Tracy Pierce's family. Tracy recently died of kidney cancer because "every treatment his doctors sought for him was denied by his insurance provider" (KMBC-TV, Channel 9, Feb. 9, 2006).

http://www.joplinglobe.com/editorial/local_story_136012150