I was saddened to see that Jay Bennett of the Chicago based rock band Wilco passed away last weekend.

The story in the paper stated that he was suing Jeff Tweedy, the founder and leader of the band, for royalties related to a film project the band did quite a while ago. I don't know the story behind this issue.

The other issue discussed in the story was Bennett's lack of health insurance, therefore leading to a lack of care for the condition that eventually killed him. I don't recall specifically what it was that he had, but the story implied that there was a surgery that he wasn't having done since he could not afford it.

It's very sad when something like this, a preventable death, occurs. I'm sure it is happening constantly to people whose lives and deaths aren't considered newsworthy.

I don't know what the answer is. Somewhere along the line we need to get access to affordable health care. I for one do not feel that the best course is to control (read: minimize or lower) physicians' reimbursement rates. As I've blogged before, I want my doctor(s) to be the "best and brightest" and be paid accordingly.

OTOH, I don't really care if the CEO of some insurance company feels underpaid if he only has a 6 figure instead of a 7 figure compensation package. Nor do I care if the insurance company itself is awash in cash. Dollars should be going to pay claims. Find the cheapest way to do this and we've got a winner.