I fell and nearly broke my arm today. It's still numb as I type this. I'm glad I didn't break it, though, because I have no health insurance. I can't afford it. The only company who would take me (due to the "preexisting condition" of an abnormal pap smear, and previous treatment for depression) only took me because the rep had me lie on the form, which would have resulted in my being denied benefits anyway. We make too much for Medicaid, which is nearly impossible to get as an adult anyway, and not enough to afford private insurance which, as it turned out, refused to cover anything (attributing it all to those aforementioned preexisting conditions, and denying everything else because it simply didn't cover frivolous things like "birth control"). My husband's work doesn't offer insurance. They can't afford to, being so small. I can't afford an emergency room visit. I'm just glad something didn't happen that would force me to go to the emergency room against my will, like a hit-and-run or something, where I'd wind up stuck with thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt because the police don't wait til you've regained consciousness to ask you if you WANT to go to the hospital or not. Or, you know, if you have insurance, WHICH hospital to go to. At least with a broken arm, I have the illusion of a choice... not much of one, since I have four children, one of whom is 1, who probably need a mother capable of at least washing dishes.
So I'm curious. You're the lawmaker here. I know our country has an excellent health care infrastructure in place. I know the resources are available. I also know that it'd be better for everyone if people like me weren't forced to use the emergency room and declare bankruptcy (leaving the hospital AND my other creditors out of luck) just because they slipped on some ice and broke their arm. I mean, given how easy such a thing as that is to fix, how cheap compared to the cost to my family, my creditors, and the hospital, and how there's even a bill in the senate right now that may give me that ability... surely you can make something happen here, yes? Hell, you can raise my taxes. I don't care. Frankly, I can afford that much better than I can afford paying several hundred a month for insurance that doesn't actually cover anything with copays, deductibles and coinsurance that would bankrupt me by themselves.
Or did I need to attach a big fat check to this email for you to care?