Today President Obama called health care reform the “defining struggle of this generation.” Why? Amid all the complexity and red herrings of the seemingly never-ending debate over the legislation currently wending its way through Congress, it may help to delve into the belly of the beast via first-hand accounts of those unlucky enough to meet [...]

Amid the posturing, politicking, and general confusion of the health care debate, it’s easy to lose sight of the situation on the ground and the reasons that reform made it to the top of the agenda in the first place. stethoscopeThe growing number of uninsured is one major factor, and the sense of powerlessness among many who have been forced to negotiate and plead with their insurance companies is another. In a series of posts this week we present some health care horror stories gleaned from consumer sites online. Keeping in mind that a license to complain is issued with every keyboard nowadays, the sheer breadth and scope of these Kafkaesque encounters, coupled with the frequent tone of weariness and desperation, serve as a powerful indictment of the present system.