There was a Wall Street Journal Article which got lost in the news about bailouts failing and stock markets crashing. The article dealt with a slowdown in the medical field. As a patient activist, I found the article very troubling and the developments disturbing. In short, many people are cutting back on "unnecessary spending," and medical care is getting passed off as unnecessary.

The Journal described what Americans are cutting corners on:

"In a survey by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners last month, 22% of 686 consumers said that economy-related woes were causing them to go to the doctor less often. About 11% said they've scaled back on prescription drugs to save money. Some of the areas being hit include hip and knee replacements, mammograms, and visits to the emergency room, according to a survey conducted by D2Hawkeye Inc., a Waltham, Mass., medical data analytics firm, on behalf of The Wall Street Journal."

Of course, colonscopies, prescriptions which keep Crohn's Disease in remission, PSA tests for prostate cancer, and blood tests for anemia are all being skipped too. Cancers and flares will go undetected. People will suddenly develop severe symptoms, and they'll be admitted to the hospital, spiking up the total cost of their medical care.

It's even worse for some people. People who have a chronic illness but lose their health insurance simply cannot find affordable health insurance on the private market. No middle class family can afford the $2,000 a month it costs to insure a chronically ill individual. So the chronically ill skip out on tests and drugs they need to keep healthy. They "try not to get sick" by not thinking about their disease. And they end up worse off than they were. The Journal details a typical, and heartbreaking, story of a Crohn's Disease patient who lost her health insurance:

"Marianne Falacienski of Pensacola, Fla., had health coverage through her husband's land-surveyor job until he was laid off in April last year. Her husband, Brian, has since bought a policy for himself and their 2-year-old daughter on the individual market, but the family couldn't afford to include Ms. Falacienski, who has a chronic inflammatory bowel disease called Crohn's. The premiums charged by insurers for health plans purchased by individuals with pre-existing conditions can be prohibitive. Ms. Falacienski, 33, has been putting off a pricey blood test to monitor her Crohn's-related anemia, which if it worsens, can indicate bleeding in the intestines. She says she already owes more than $3,000 for a blood transfusion she needed in January -- the result, she says, of skipping the tests last year and thus failing to spot her worsening blood count in time. "I'm just trying not to get sick again," she says. She found a receptionist job in July but won't be eligible for its health benefits until late fall."

And if my life is any indicator, Ms. Falacienski will develop a flare right before her health insurance takes effect. She'll be laid off. She'll be forced to use the emergency room to treat her illness. She'll get tens of thousands of dollars in bills that she cannot afford. The hospital will refer her bills to a collection agency. She'll get too many phone calls to count. She'll become stressed out over how she can afford to live, she'll feel like she is a big burden on her family, she'll get depressed, her disease will get worse, and the vicious cycle will repeat itself. Welcome to being ill in 21st Century America.

As a country, we need to ask ourselves if we truly value human life like Ms. Falacienski's. We need to ask ourselves if we would be willing to spare a little bit extra every two weeks in order to make sure that everyone--no matter their condition--could access the medical care system. For me this election is about health care. John McCain would continue to exclude the chronically ill from the health insurance system. In contrast, Barack Obama would allow those of us who are chronically ill to buy into the health care plan that Member's of Congress given themselves, and provide subsidies to ensure that everyone could afford the premiums. The choice is clear. I, and many other patients who care about expanding access to the health insurance system, are standing with Barack Obama.