Exhibit A in why we won't be able control health care costs

If you're looking for tangible evidence of

1. how some people feel unbelievably entitled
2. just how distorted people's views of what health insurance is for
3. how distorted our legal system is

Then look no farther then one Tess Sosa, one of the blessed to have ever survived a forced water landing by a commercial airliner. She and her family were passengers on the US Airways flight 1549 which crashed into the Hudson River outside New York City after striking a flock of birds this past winter.

You think Mrs. Sosa and other passengers would count their blessing to be alive and be thrilled with the $5000 check US Airways issued each passenger in compensation (which they didn't even an obligation to do). Apparently this was not acceptable to Mrs. Sosa who is demanding the airlines insurer, A.I.G., pay for all costs associated with her psychotherapy for post traumatic stress disorder, the unprovable sinkhole of psychiatric diagnoses.

From the New York Times,

Tess Sosa, who was aboard Flight 1549 with her husband, 4-year-old daughter and infant son, said she suffered a mild concussion during the landing, and her husband was treated for a leg injury and hypothermia. The family, from New York, continues to get hospital bills, she said. But her top priority was getting the insurer to pay for therapy to reduce the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder for her and her daughter.

Ms. Sosa said Sophia “remembers everything. I just want her to walk away from this knowing that we did everything we could to make it make sense.” A.I.G. agents have told her that for therapy she should use her own health insurance, but it has a $3,000 deductible for mental health care.

“Why should we be paying out of pocket?” she said. “That’s why they’re there. They’re the insurer.”

WTF! She's upset that she's being forced to apply this $5,000 windfall towards her copay and deuctible. Incredible! Also mentioned in the article are other passengers who are refusing to accept settlements in hopes they'll get larger offers. Why do these people feel they're entitled to anything? There was an "Act of God" event that people miraculously escaped alive from, end of story. It's this attitude and the distorted liability culture that Obama, et al. are going to be working against to make any gains in health care reform. We are our own worst enemy!


Rob