Michael Moore's new film, Sicko, advances the proposition that the nation's health-care crisis affects not just the uninsured but the insured, who are subject to the predations of insurance companies focused on the bottom line.
Moore says a post on his Web site seeking health-care horror stories drew tens of thousands of responses in just a few days. He found people denied critical care, rejected after the fact due to preexisting conditions and driven into financial ruin by non-covered costs.
Does this happen here too, and are the people to whom it happens willing to tell their stories?
Isthmus >is asking readers to tell us about their experiences with local health-care insurers - denials, excluded costs, red tape and runarounds. And, of course, we'd love to hear from current or former employees of health insurance companies charged with keeping down costs.
Let's start by asking for synopses of 500 words or less; these may later be published with the author's consent, or used as the basis for further inquiry.
Writers must be willing to have their stories told and to provide documentation to back them up, on request. And the stories ought to involve experiences that have happened within the last five years.
Send your tale by July 31 to Isthmus news editor Bill Lueders
blueders@isthmus.com
subject line: "health care story"
or to Isthmus, 101 King Street, Madison, WI 53703