Nicholas Kristoff tells a sad story about a former classmate of his. When the friend quit his job, he did not keep his health insurance as he thought the cost of an individual policy was too high, although he had voluntarily switched from full time to part-time employment. After eight years of no health insurance, he developed what were later determined to be signs of prostate cancer. Because he had no insurance, he did not see anybody about these symptoms nor worse symptoms that occurred later on.
It was only when he had reached the quite serious stage that he went to the emergency room, where he was diagnosed with the cancer. He has been in and out of the hospital ever since. Of course, the bills have piled up; thus far his treatment has cost over $550,000. Because he has run out of money, the hospital considers him a charity case. Ergo, you and I are paying the bill for him.
How much less would we have to pay if Obamacare was in effect? It's likely he would have seen the doctor earlier, would have been in less dire medical straits and the costs would be far less than $550,000 and growing. How many people are there who are in the same boat as Christoff's friend?
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