Over the weekend on Twitter, I encountered a heartwarming picture of House Speaker Paul Ryan in cordial conversation with teenagers who have apparently survived childhood cancer.
Advocacy is not limited to adults. These Wisconsin teens shared some powerful stories with me about their fight against childhood cancer. pic.twitter.com/VJ0eQDXu7U
— Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) April 27, 2017
That photo-op is unfortunate, since Speaker Ryan just passed a healthcare bill that allows states to waive consumer protections that bar insurers from charging higher premiums to childhood cancer survivors.
What’s gotten less attention is that insurers would have more opportunities to get into people’s personal business to charge sick people more. As a health services researcher, I understand why insurers have an incentive to ask: “Have you ever been treated for depression?” But it’s none of their business, and ACA quite rightly prohibited these practices.
More here.
Also at higher risk for making claims: those who have been raped or sexually or physically abused. And those acts will be in official records, so even if a survivor has blocked out of forgotten the details, or was too young to remember them, an insurance company will be able to find out. (And to drop coverage if the policy starts costing them money.)
There's a photo going the rounds: a stock photo of the Capitol at night. But the context turns it into a vassal’s imitation of Barad-dûr.