[cercis]

You ask some good questions, let me see if I can remember them all.

1) Are there charities to cover the costs? Yes and no. Some churches will cover it for church members. You can sometimes get grants from charities. Some larger hospitals will have grants. But you have to go look for it and you have to know who to ask. Something that can be very difficult to find.

2) Why don't people access healthcare when it is available? (related to the Emergency room question) They access is available, but you still have to pay for it. They will treat you without payment upfront, but you still get billed. And you will be hounded until you pay it (I used to work for a debt collector and they did a thriving business for the local - christian - hospital).

3) Does having limited healthcare make people take better care of themselves? Maybe, maybe not. There's a lot of misinformation and ignorance about healthcare choices in the US. And even when you are trying to do the absolute best it can be hard to know what that is. Some studies say do this, other studies say no, absolutely do not do that, etc.

Plus even when you are taking care of yourself you still get sick. Since a large number of people do not get sick days (or work for a company who is having layoffs) they go to work sick. They send their kids to school sick because they can't get off to take care of them at home. We get exposed to so many germs that it is next to impossible not to get sick.

Healthcare costs are the leading cause of bankruptcy. Most people in bankruptcy do have some consumer debt, but it was a "reasonable" limit before their illness. Or they were laid off, used credit cards to help with monthly bills while looking for another job and then got sick and their house crashed in on them.

I had coverage for me and my 2 children (no maternity coverage) through Blue Cross/Blue Shield. It cost $400/month and had a $25 copay. There was no prescription benefit. I got a sinus infection (which I had been treating rather successfully with sudafed until OK passed a law limiting the amount of sudafed you could buy in a month and the amount was lower than the recommended dosage). My mom's dr friend gave me some samples of antibiotics which cleared it up for a while, but it got infected again. I had to spend $100 for a prescription for it. You know why I had a sinus infection? I had an abscessed tooth and it spread to my sinuses. Dental care is absolutely not covered by medical insurance even when it is clearly causing a major medical issue. I got lucky, the 3rd round of antibiotics cleared up the abscess and it hasn't come back yet (knock on wood).