Paula,

As the parent of a child with Down Syndrome and as a survivor of life-threatening illness, I can tell you that one of the most frustrating things about our current system is its inequity. An acquaintance and I, who were being treated for the same disease at the same time (and living in the same state), had very different medication options because her HMO was trying to save money instead of her life. She eventually wound up getting the same medication my docs had prescribed in the first place (which they described as the "standard of care" and which worked beautifully for me), but only after she'd gone to the emergency room to treat side-effects from the substandard protocol. I find this intolerable, and I attribute that kind of craziness to being in a profit-motivated health-care system.