In today's America, 8 stitches just cost me $865.50 - and I have health insurance through my employer. In today's America, my friend literally killed himself trying to work to pay of his family's medical bills - and he had insurance as well. Enough is enough.

I just want to add my story, even if no one reads it, to add to the list of people who suffered because of our broken healthcare system. When my grandmother got cancer and had no insurance, we immediately knew there was no hope for her. All an uninsured person has is emergency Medicaid, but nowhere to go for chemo or radiation. I called many oncologists, the cheapest one required a bank statement with a minimum of $40,000, the most expensive one required a bank statement showing $150,000 before starting chemotherapy. Apparently, that's standard, to make sure you will have enough for the three treatments. Of course, we didn't have it. Called all the Cancer nonprofit organizations you can think of, and no one could help. Made me wonder what their role really is. Long story short, I finally found a young oncologist who agreed to see her for half the price and we were able to qualify for free life-prolonging medicine, which was not treatment, but at least my grandmother lived a few months, long enough to say goodbye to everyone and to spread the rumor that I had a big penis, like I had asked. She made sure to tell everyone that came to visit that she had accidentally seen it, which did indeed happen, and that it was like a long snake. I remember when we took her to the hospital because she couldn't breathe and there was nothing they could do, but discharge her to go home to die, pretty much. That's my personal story, but I worked at a hospital for 7 years, and saw many people come in dying, because they had not been able to afford their medication for diabetes, high blood pressure, or been able to afford their dialysis, and were coming to the emergency room for treatment. Obamacare was a tiny step forward, but now that we're here, I think anyone who has had insurance through the ACA realizes that it doesn't go far enough. Your life and health are still in the hands of Insurance companies, and sometimes, you can't afford the premium, because you don't have the extra $75/month.

/r/SandersForPresident Thread