I volunteer at my local hospital in the Child Life department. I see children hurting, sick, and unfortunately children who have inadequate health care. The stories I hear on a weekly basis and the situations I see are heartbreaking, and I only see it from a volunteers point of view. I'm not a nurse or a doctor yet, but they probably see the issues way more than I do.
According to HealthCare.gov, the average cost of a three-day hospital stay is $30,000. That is a cost of a new car, a whole year of tuition for college, or a healthy down payment on a house. While some American workers have great health insurance, the majority do not. Students are in debt from going to school already, and people who were sick or injured are going into debt for their well-being.
I see families stressed out about their child being extremely sick and I can only imagine the stress that they will have to receive the medical bill when their young child is playing trucks on their living room floor if their insurance doesn't cover it. That child and his or her family will most likely be in debt for years to come, limiting a lifestyle that America, unfortunately, strives for.
On top of all this, many patients are in isolation, meaning that people that come in contact with them can potentially put them in a life threatening situation. If we have people who do not have insurance who can't get vaccinated, we are harming thousands of people, not just in the hospital. I heard this story that a student from another country had no health insurance, and contracted tuberculosis and unfortunately transferred the disease to other students. But that all could have been prevented if we had a more reasonable health care system.
And I understand and agree that the current Affordable Care harms taxpayers and companies, but if I was a business owner I would much rather have to pay a little bit more for taxes than to watch an employee suffer, or be in debt and struggle to pay their bills. Yes, some aspects of the care don't work, but it sure breaks my heart to see a little kid full of life in the Child Life playroom and know in the back of my mind that their family is going to struggle.
As a girl who watched her family struggle to pay bills and not be able to go to college by her family, and knowing that a hospital stay costs $30,000, I will do everything in my power to stand up for that kid who has cancer, with a mom who works 40 hours a week putting food on her table and trying to pay off medical debts.