I can’t use names, for obvious reasons, but one of my best friends died because she didn’t have health insurance. She had asthma, got inhalers from friends who, with the best of intentions, were trying to help, and was therefore not being properly monitored in their use. She literally dropped dead, most likely from some lethal combination of inhalants, or a combination of other over-the-counter medicines, or from using the wrong type at the wrong time. It wasn’t the friends’ fault. It is the fault of the system. Tragic. Utterly tragic.

For YEARS, I’ve had severe hearing loss that is getting worse and worse because I can’t afford to see a doctor, but I make too much to be on Medicaid. I don’t know what to do. There is a risk of permanent hearing loss.

This has got to stop.

Anonymous