Hi Adam, my wife had a chronic illness — cancer — for over a decade. I thought I would mention this small reflection, as it touches on your call for empathy, which a compassionate world would offer you, and everyone who suffers in this way. At a certain point in time, my wife’s illness became a “preexisting condition,” which disqualified her for medical coverage. Rather than let our lives be destroyed by attempting to treat a terminal illness without medical coverage in the United States, we moved to France.

In France, you see, any kind of long-term illness, such as yours, is grounds to be relieved of having to pay for anything, rather than grounds to disqualify you from coverage.

The motivation for that comes from a recognition that someone who is already suffering through a long-term illness should not have to bear the additional worry of paying medical bills — even copays.

This came to mind as I read your piece because of the Supreme Court finding last week that the ban on exclusions for pre-existing conditions was found to be unconstitutional. The ban may be unconstitutional, but the exclusion is immoral.

Best wishes, James