my father's kidneys were in trouble. considering the kidney disease was what killed his father, this was very bad news. we heard just yesterday about kidneys and insurance. the waddington brothers, travis of new york, michael of santa fe. "the new york times" reported their dad, david, needed a kidney transplant because of congenital renal disease. each of the sons was ready to donate of course but they were warned not even to get tested to see if they matched because if they did, transplant or not, they would be denied insurance for the rest of their lives because they might test positive for the same congenitive renal disease that threatened their father, and thus they would have a pre-existing condition. and still the waddingtons and their dad and my dad were all luckier than at least 45,000 americans. because as discovered in a new study conducted by harvard university and cambridge health alliance that's how many of us are dying each year because we don't have insurance.