Piper Amos
30 November
Dr. Grodzicki
American Literature and Composition
I Believe That A Reassessment of The Medical System in America Would Be Beneficial
When a house burns down there is an expectation that firefighters will come help, and
when a child is born there is an expectation that he or she will go to school for free. But what
can’t be expected is that child is healthy enough to survive that fire or attend school. Everyday in
America, another mother, father or child goes sick or untreated because they cannot afford
healthcare. In my life I have been fortunate enough to always have access to prescriptions,
doctors appointments, and treatments I have needed. A few years ago, mr sister had an
autoimmune disorder and was hospitalized for over a week, even with good health insurance my
parents were still paying hefty medical bills, as if the stress of a child in the hospital wasn’t
enough. In the end all the bills were paid and she made a total recovery! But I am not here to
acknowledge that I am lucky, I want to tell you about our family friend Audra who wasn’t as
fortunate. Shortly after her 34th birthday she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She carried
insurance, beat the cancer, and 15 years later is facing large amounts of medical debt. I also want
to talk about our family friend Sheryi, she lost a close friend because they could not afford
insulin, and then watch her daughter deal with the same issue. Now you might be thinking that
this is not your problem, but I beg to differ. As a country there are things that can be changed and
put into place to create a successful system to support those with and without insurance. This
may seem like a lot of law changing, and policy change, but I have a mom, a dad, and two
siblings, the thought of any of my family members going through this is my worst
nightmare. When I hear statistics like, ⅓ of bankruptcies in America are due to medical debt it
makes me wonder why the US hasn’t made an attempt to fix this issue. I believe that policies
redelegating our tax money, protecting the financially disabled, and explicitly stating that no
American citizen is denied life-saving treatment need to be passed.