In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act, there has been a lot of talk about the high cost of health care reform in dollars and cents. But the costs of not changing our health care system are even higher, and not just in a financial sense.
Dr. Dave Dworak, an emergency room physician, has written an essay, “We Can Do Better,” sharing the story of one of his patients, an uninsured man who faces the choice between seeking treatment for what appeared to be lung cancer, and keeping his house–the only thing he has left to leave to his young daughter.
Stories like that of Dr. Dworak’s patient are heartbreakingly common, and clearly illustrate that our current broken system costs lives.