I'm really pissed off

So what else is new, right?

I participate on a forum for women with gyn cancers. It's a place to go for information and support. Recently, someone posted who's living in another country and she spoke about the health care system there - which is worlds better than in the U.S. because all of her treatment will be paid for. She has no worries whatsoever in that area, and her country also offers really great medical care that is at least as good as what we have in the U.S. The best specialists, no long waits for appointments, etc.

She was looking for someone from her country who had dealt with their system, and also had questions about the treatment recommendations here in the U.S., whether or not it was the same as what she was being told, etc.

I replied with info about my own experiences, then I mentioned that I'm envious of the health care system they have in western Europe, that there are so many people here in the U.S. who can't get treatment or go bankrupt because they don't have insurance.

The moderator deleted that part of my post with the note "hot topic." I didn't say anything that wasn't true, and I didn't take any political position about what I think we need to do to fix it or who I thought would do a better job of it.

The fact that they deleted my post pisses me off SO MUCH! They've done it before and I've quit posting because of it for weeks or months at a time.

There have been so many women there - probably more than half of the members - who've posted about financial problems they're having because of the medical bills - even those who DO have insurance - and all the extra stress that produces, which makes dealing with cancer 100 times worse. There have been members who delayed treatment and/or surgery until they could find a way to pay for it. Others who couldn't get the care their doctors recommended because their insurance companies refused to pay for it.

Why can't we talk about it? Why are so many people so fucking unwilling to face the reality? Our health care system is fucked up! If we can't talk about it, how are we going to fix it? There's no one who's more affected by this system than cancer patients. Don't we deserve support for the financial distress as well as the disease?

We are the only country in the western world that doesn't have universal health care for all of our citizens. And the insurance companies keep raking in millions while people suffer and die.