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Smoke bellows from the quiet, two story home, as the Fire Department arrives. An anxious young couple greets them, the wife clutching a crying baby.

"Thank God you're here!" says the husband. "It's just a small kitchen fire, and will only take a second to put out".

"Yes, thank goodness we're insured." adds his wife.

"We'll have this thing out in no time", the Fire Chief calmly responds, "but first we'll need to see your insurance card."

"Our insurance card?!?" says the husband,"but...it's in the filing cabinet, in the house, and the house is on fire! Can't we just worry about that later?"

"Sorry, sir, we can't do anything without proof that you have insurance."

"Oh,no, Honey", screams his wife, "I think my card is in my purse, but it's in the living room, and...well, the house is on fire!"

Shaking his head, her husband takes a deep breath and runs into the burning house. After a few minutes, he emerges, covered in ash and gasping for air, but holding the purse.

"Here, Honey, but please hurry-the fire has already jumped to the bedroom." She eventually finds the card, and hands it to the Chief.

"This will take just a minute, while we run this by the insurance company, to find out what's covered and what's not......Oops,sorry, I'm afraid we'll have to call this one in, your card isn't going through."

"Look, can't this wait? Our house is going to be ruined!"

"Listen Pal, barks the Chief - "If you're going to be rude, we can always just take care of the house on Maple Street. We KNOW they're insured, and by Blue Bell Insurance. They cover EVERYTHING!"

"I'm not being rude, it's just that this fire..."

"Hey, we finally got through. This fire has been approved to 20,000 gallons, with a 5,000 gallon deductible. Would you like to pay for that in cash or with a credit card?"

"But...we don't HAVE cash or a credit card....they're in the...house!"

"Sorry, but we're going to need that before we can proceed any further".

"I'll....I'll write you a check", says the wife, reaching for her purse as the upstairs explodes into flames.

"Thank you", says the Chief, as he writes her a receipt. "Just one more thing."

"Good grief" barks the husband. "What NOW?!?"

"How old is your wiring? Do you have fiberglass or foam insulation? Is the house pre or post 1950? Are the floors wood or tile? If it's wood, the fire is going to spread faster, you know. Now, I want to tell you that if you've had the same wiring since you bought the house, and it IS an electrical fire, you might be in trouble. Some policies don't cover a pre-existing electrical condition, and some policies don't cover wood floors, because they burn faster, so we have to ask these things, for your own benefit."

"But...my house! It's burning to the ground!"

"Yes, it is. As a matter of fact, it's getting really smokey in there. Does your policy cover oxygen for the firefighters? Some do, some don't. It's $100.00 a tank, you know. Let's see, there's 5 of us, times $100.00". Oh, and is that a 2, 3, or 4 bedroom home? Are the bathrooms upstairs, downstairs, or both? Is there a basement? An attic?..."

"Please", both the husband and wife are now frantically crying, holding on to each other, and watching everything they've worked their whole lives for disappearing into smoke.

"Okay", blasts the Fire Chief. "Let's Roll! Start the meter, Bob."

As the second story collapses, the firemen do their best to battle the blaze. They watch while the fire in the small portion that's left of their house is nearly extinguished.

"Okay-Cut the water! Cut the water!" the lead firefighter yells.

"What?!?" the astonished husband shouts..."you can't stop, the fire is nearly out. It's finally under control."

"Sorry, Sir, your policy only covers you up to 20,000 gallons, and we just reached that."

"But...my house! It's now going to be a total loss, and you could have easily saved it!"

"You should have thought of that when you bought your policy, Sir."

"Oh, how I wish that we had not-for-profit National Fire Service, like they do in Canada." sobs the wife. "Yeah, they put out a fire, no questions asked." adds the husband.

"You Liberals are all the same! Canada....Sometimes they gotta wait ten minutes for a fire truck!"

Fireman Bob chimes in with "Yeah, I don't want da government runnin' MY fire protection, just look at how day run Social Security!"

"Socialized Fire Protection?" snorts the Chief. "Not in MY America! Besides, we could never afford it."

Bob puffs up his chest "Yeah...da good old U.S.A- best Fire Protection in da world!"

The sad couple stands in horror, as they watch the chimney tumble into the ashes...."Good thing we were insured."

Jamie and Pamela Voras are the Wisconsin State Chairs for Dennis Kucinich*2008
Click here to contact Jamie and Pamela Voras and Healthcare-NOW.

Click here to read any of the articles in this special BC series on Single-Payer Healthcare.