No. of Recommendations: 5
Maybe $20? Just enough so they think "yeah, it's worth $20 to find out what is going on with me". I'd be OK with that, and I think most people would. I'm sure she would have been. I'm not OK with people not being able to afford care early, and so they become acute before they seek attention (at which point it is a LOT more expensive, and they could die anyway). Or going broke to treat their child, often having to reach poverty levels before they "qualify" for any sort of assistance. That system is insane, but that's the one we have right now.
Yah, I think $20 now is reasonable - as long as there's ways for the destitute. I just think access to health care is a key, but when someone has a reversal of fortune, we need to be able to recognize that. I was talking with a clerical fellow at work and found out he'd dropped his health care due to a reversal of fortune. He had type 2 diabetes. People who knew him said he had been having troubles physically, surgeries, then dropped his health care as it was too expensive. He didn't want to talk to me about the details. He had really lowered his meds (possibly eliminated them). Wasn't measuring his blood sugar. He was dead 6-9 months later.
