Behar opened the floor to the topic on her program tonight, noting Cain’s comments and asking for a response. “It’s very hard to comment on someone who is so denied intelligence,” Belafonte replied, “someone who has denied such a view of history.” Adding that Cain only believed that because “he happened to have good fortune, a moment when he broke through– the moment someone blinked,” he insisted statistics on the number of black people in the American prison system and the exorbitant unemployment rate in the black community clearly disproved Cain’s point. Belafonte also had a personal comment or two for Cain, calling him “the latest incarnation of what is totally false for the needs of our community and the needs of our nation” and, generally, a “bad apple,” and denying that his good luck made him “the authority on the pride of people of color.” Given where the Cain campaign was at the beginning of America’s Odyssian voyage to 2012, getting slammed by Harry Belafonte may be a sign that Cain has finally arrived at the top tier. Cain devotes a whole chapter of his new book to his battle with cancer. He never once mentions insurance companies not paying for treatment, skimping on reimbursement, or disqualifying his claims. He never mentions having to fend off threats that his coverage will be revoked. He never has trouble paying the bills or getting to the hospital or into the best treatment programs. Instead, Cain's health care story is a happy tale of selfless doctors and the brilliance of the private sector.
The sort of treatment Cain received would have put many people into bankruptcy, even if they had health insurance, thanks to caps and co-payments and other tricks insurance companies use to shift costs onto patients. Cain has never mentioned just what sort of health insurance he had during his cancer treatment, or what he has now. Multiple calls and emails over several weeks requesting information about his health care coverage went unreturned.
