Kerry’s NH story lacks key details (Knowles breast cancer and insurance)

[NewHampshireDem]

http://www.theunionleader.com/articles_showa.html?article=41945

I post this because you and I both know that this is going to get spun into something much greater than it actually is. Now if only the Union Mis-leader would turn some of its investigative eyes toward *'s (or Gov. Benson's) *real* misdeeds ...

HUDSON — Sen. John Kerry often tells a story about John and Mary Ann Knowles. The Democratic Presidential nominee points to this local couple’s difficulties as evidence of the failure of the Bush administration’s health care policies.

According to the Massachusetts senator, it’s the story of a man who lost his job, and a woman undergoing debilitating cancer treatments who feared she would lose their health insurance if she did not work every day.

But while the Knowles couple, by any measure, has had a rough go of it lately, John Knowles told the New Hampshire Sunday News a different story last week.

He said Mary Ann could have taken disability leave without losing health insurance, although her pay would have been cut somewhat. She did not take time off, he said, but that was to conserve her sick days, not to protect her insurance. They both say she has good health coverage.

Mary Ann’s employer suggests that Kerry misstated the situation.
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[bluestateguy]

1. The death of the Loeb's didn't change anything

The Union Leader is still right wing toilet paper.

[MaineDem]

2. Sad

The other side is stopping at nothing obviously.

How about the doctor on stage in Ohio with Bush; the "poster child" for why tort reform is needed. THe White House trotted this doc out as an example of how a good doctor can be victimized by frivolous malpractice suits.

Turns out this guy had twice settled suits out of court. He was a totally incompetent doctor. THe WH certainly hadn't vetted him properly.

Union Leader - Ed Muskie...I remember that very well. It seems the paper is still slime!

[BeatleBoot]

3. They want us to focus on anything but

the morons record of the last 4 years.

[bringbackfdr]

4. Union Misleader

Thankfully its influence outside Manchester and the North Country is pretty marginal. They have all but ignored the GOP phone-jamming story that hurt Jeanne Shaheen in the 2002 senate race; somehow if a Democrat had been caught doing this I think the UL would have given it a little more play.

[newyawker99]

6. Hi bringbackfdr!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[bringbackfdr]

7. Thanks for the welcome

It can get lonely being liberal and a NH native.

[iamjoy]

5. Point Is True/Specifics Smell

I admit, when Kerry said this, I thought something was odd. I mean, what about FMLA signed by Clinton that guarantees leave to most employees to care for a health condition? There's HIPAA and COBRA, so it seemed she would have been more worried about her pocketbook than her actual health insurance (although some companies are exempt).

When I was going through chemo, I needed FMLA to get time off because my chemo was administered by IV drip over a period of several hours. I work for an excellent company, but it is large and things are usually "by the book." It was our peak season, so I couldn't have gotten personal days without FMLA (thank you President Clinton). It was usually a hassle to get the time off - I had to have a note from the doctor for each incident and fax it to HR which was in another location. I came into work feeling ill sometimes (drugged others) and with dangerously low white blood cell counts putting me at risk for infection in an office of 1000 people. All because I didn't want to jump through all the hoops to get the absence "excused."

And I still worried about how it would affect my standing with my employer. HR discouraged me from telling my immediate supervisor any details of my illness for privacy reasons (I did anyway.) I know my job performance suffered, because I was under so much stress and trying to get five days worth of work done in four when it was already busy. And whether companies mean to do it or it is just a person's own work ethic, sometimes we feel guilty for taking the time off. I worried what would happen if I ran through my FMLA. I read about people who lost their job while going through chemo because they did use up all their FMLA.

Unless you have been through it or something similiar, you cannot imagine the fear and anxiety. Once that period of your life is better, those fears may seem silly or exagerated, especially coming out of some one else's mouth.

[depakid]

8. I detect a Goring-

Expect to see A LOT more of this type of thing. The media WILL exagerate and proliferate stories like this... anything to avoid actually focusing on the underlying issue.

I hope the Kerry campaign is ready to respond when the inevitable happens.

[Piperay]

9. That is the same kind of stuff that Gore

got caught on and made to like like a liar over. I wish the Democrats would be more careful of that kind of thing because the repukes are so desperate that they will check and recheck every little thing and any mistatement by Democrats they will be caught on and will be hung out to dry over.