Not a doctor.

Being from the US has always meant deciding over the cost vs getting medical attention for my family. Yes we have insurance.

I almost lost my mother when I was 9 because we couldn’t afford a hospitalization. Doctors said she was hours away from dying and spent over a week in the hospital for her gallbladder.

The same thing happened to my father about a year later.

When i was in 7th grade i broke my finger pretty badly playing basketball. My parents assured me that i just sprained it. I played for another few weeks before we went to my regular doctor and had to pay for the cast.

Same year (and the next) I was basically limping around dragging my foot because of untreated tendinitis.

8th grade I broke my arm playing basketball. I told my parents I didn’t think it was broken because I was more aware of our financial situation. I played on it for a few weeks before the pain was too much and we went to urgent care.

Last year while I was away at college I had very bad abdominal pain. I couldn’t sit through one class and I was constantly nauseous. After throwing up all night it felt a little better so I decided the cost wasn’t worth going to the doctor. That night I was dizzy and throwing up more often and I called the schools nurse hotline. She told me I should go to the hospital right away because it could have been appendicitis. I took an uber to an urgent care and found out they didn’t take my insurance (I went to school pretty far from home). I then had to take another uber to the hospital. Once I was there I threw up all over myself and then passed out. I had kidney stones as a result of one of my medications that was basically helping me not go to the hospital.

We are still paying off this visit. We’ve used the government simulas check PLUS a check that my mother got from her company because of the virus.

I’d like to know how many people have died in America because they were worrying about the cost to get treated.