There are over 45 million Americans without health Insurance. Many that have insurance are not very well covered and are unlikely to get some services when they need them, which brings me to my topic: Medical testing. Today we have made huge strides in medical testing. We have decoded the entire human genome and have begun deciphering the meaning of each gene that makes us tick. The Beauty of this is that we can also find defective genes, and genes that are passed down from generation to generation. We can do a test to determine if a cancer is treatable and whether it has a chance of reoccurring. (read more about new testing methods) But there is a problem here. We are familiar with tests for high cholesterol, and other common illnesses. These test may run as little as a few dollars. New genetic testing however may run over $3000. Some insurance companies may not want to pay for this type of testing, and people without insurance certainly will not opt to get these tests. More and more we are becoming a country where the wealthy can buy their way to better health, while the poor take whatever they can get at hospital emergency rooms. Studies recently indicate that those that have no insurance are actually billed more than insured patience during hospital stays. This is because they have no group bargaining power, and will be taken to court should they default on payments. I foresee hospitals using these expensive tests on the uninsured as a way to make a buck, even when these tests may not be fully warranted. Remember also that our wonderful Congress and President passed a law that makes filing for bankruptcy harder. A large portion of people that file for bankruptcy are for medical reasons.

I think that the progress we have made in science and medicine is wonderful. I also think that it's a shame that socially, we are so far behind counties that treat all it's citizens to top notch medical treatment. So as we go forward we will see an ever increasing number of bankruptcies filed, more middle class families slipping into poverty, and more millionaires in the pharmaceutical and medical testing business.