How the H1N1 pandemic may further boost chances of a health care reform get passed

Just like when the now concluded US recession was starting to be felt hard during last year's US presidential campaign period between Pres. Obama and Sen. McCain that boosted then Sen. Obama's presidential bid, the current H1N1 pandemic seems to be also boosting the chances of finally passing a health care reform bill as it further highlights the bad side of private insurances.  

What's the cost of being in ICU for 1 month and what it means exhausting your lifetime cap ?

Maybe Pres. Obama, the WH and the Dems should collaborate with Mastercard and borrow their "Priceless" ad slogan in one of their ad campaigns for their final push for passing HC reform.   
The commercial should come out something like this: 

Use of ECMO and other life-saving devices: $300,000
Payment for doctors, nurses and other hospital staff for 1 month stay: $200,000
1 month ICU stay:  $1,000,000
Total bill: $1,500,000
No lifetime caps:  priceless
Being covered even with a "pre-existing" condition: priceless
Saving your love ones from financial crisis after a health crisis: priceless
Saving a life:  priceless

Something like that. 
I think everyone gets the general idea.   P.S.  If this idea gets used.  I want some credit.

H1N1 Families Face Financial Challenges
Update: Parents of Children Who Were Seriously Sick Tackle Massive Hospital Bills and Possible Insurance Caps

Excerpts:

(CBS)  After six weeks in intensive care, Lateasha Howard has apparently beaten H1N1.

But Carolyn Howard has no idea what saving her daughter's life will cost.

"Are you expecting to see a big bill at the end?" asked CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann.

"Hopefully not," Howard said. "Praying and hoping that I don't see one."

A machine called an ECMO is the big expense. It's a lifeline for the heart and lungs and requires two nurses in the room, around-the-clock.

"Staffing, training, equipment - very quickly you're going to be running into the hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Cole Eslyn the CEO of OU Medical Center.

Lateasha Howard's hospital charges? $1.2 million - and rising.

Tony's bill? Almost $900,000.

And that's just the hospital.

"That doesn't include the doctors or nurses, or the CT or the plastic surgeons that came into the room," Hugh Estlinbaum said. "The list is long."

Hospitals usually negotiate much lower settlements. But unlike many insurance plans, the Estlinbaums have a lifetime cap on expenses: $1.5 million. Tony's hospital stay and continuing rehabilitation could top that.

"I don't know how we're going to do these medical bills," Hugh Estlinbaum said. "I have no idea."

Every insurance plan's lifetime cap varies. But in extreme H1N1 cases, with sky-high medical bills, a child who once had a severe flu might have trouble getting health insurance ever again.

Congress is now considering three major bills to overhaul American health care. All three would eliminate lifetime caps.

"I can't put a price tag on what he is worth," Lizzy Estlinbaum said. "There is no price tag on what he is worth."

So the Estlinbaums could soon face a new crisis. Not medical - financial.

*Read full article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/10/29/eveningnews/main5453206.shtml