Roll the dice: Health care American style

My wife is about to get out of the emergency room after several hours. She had some chest pains this morning, after I had left for work. She took herself to a local walk-in urgent care center. They recommended that she head on down to the hospital to get a bit more in-depth examination.

Right after the stab of death fear, those of us on the lower economic rungs immediately ask ourselves whether our symptoms are really bad enough to incur the long slog through the medical billing process that will drain our coffers for months. When you're part of the huge deductible or self pay category, you are placing a sizable bet. You hope that it's expensive nothing, because the alternative will be lingering and could be death.

We've convinced ourselves that this is the way to treat ourselves and each other, rather than the easy access and peace of mind that comes with a universal system of health care. Peace of mind is tyranny! 

When you turn out to be okay, that means you're in good shape to get back to work and pay off that debt.