The story told by the President signifies something

Here at Flag HQ we've received some Angry Rants about the President's New York Times op-ed. They seem to think that the story POTUS told in paragraph two is so vague as to be meaningless:

"A man lost his health coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because the insurance company discovered that he had gallstones, which he hadn’t known about when he applied for his policy. Because his treatment was delayed, he died. "

What man? they ask. What insurance company?

What these ignorant malcontents fail to understand is that the President was using what we here in the White House sphere call "rhetorical devices." "A man" is not necessarily a specific person--he represents all of us. I mean all of you. "The insurance company" is that vast, corporate conspiracy that wants to kill you. POTUS tells a cautionary tale: if we don't get healthcare reform you are all going to die of gallstones.

Don't get lost in irrelevant deets, people.