Sad Stories about health insurance from the front lines.

Opinion

I’m in a trial as I write this. A young man with a lot of health problems had an infection that could have been cured with proper treatment. Unfortunately, he had lost his job a few months before, and his health insurance along with it. He wanted to work, but jobs were scarce in his small town. 

When he got sick, everything was harder without insurance. He could not see who he needed to see; could not get into the hospital on time; could not get good care. Yes, he was eventually seen and admitted. But when you’re critical, hours make the difference between life and death. Those hours caused this young man his life and left his wife a widow. 

Our health insurance system is a mess. All of us should want every single U.S. citizen to have full access to free, competent health care, regardless of our political affiliations. We are the richest, strongest, most advanced nation in the world. Every other advanced nation makes sure that its people don’t suffer or die because they can’t see a doctor.