I had a little scare today.  Last night I was feeling a little run down after work.  I had trouble sleeping but when I finally did fall asleep I woke up and couldn’t breathe.   This wasn’t the first time, after my bout with bronchitis earlier this year the doc at the walk-in clinic told me I might have asthma and he referred me to a specialist.

Problem is, I don’t have health insurance.

So what do you do when you wake up and can’t breathe?  I headed to the emergency room, with a quick side trip to the ATM to get out some cash.  I pulled out $600, my daily max.

There are 4000 asthma-related deaths every year in the United States, many of them uninsured (or under-insured) children.  Asthma is the most common chronic disease among children.  Asthma is treatable, but the most common  treatment (inhaled corticosteroids) costs over $100 per month, which is way beyond what many families can afford.

4000 preventable deaths a year…more than all the people who died on September 11th.   EVERY YEAR.

Except they aren’t being killed by foreign terrorists, it’s something much more sinister. Our own failed health care system is just letting them die.

This is why I support health insurance reform.  Not because I think it’s going fix everything that’s wrong, but we have to do something.  Because I know that there’s not always an extra $600 in my account.  What if the bill was $4000?  or $40,000?  Is that when I just become another death statistic?

Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, right?

PEOPLE….IT’S THE FIRST ONE!!!!!!

http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-insurance-consumer-protections/