Dear President,

In this country there are several people who get sick or injured that do not seek the medical attention that they need because they do not want to have to deal with the expenses. I am only a junior in high school so it is not my job to pay medical bills; my parents take care of that. I am aware that doctor and hospital visits are not cheap, though. When people are sick, they want to be able to afford the medicine that they require. Americans are cheap and do not want to spend more money than necessary. Sadly though, some of these Americans are not cheap, they truly cannot afford these high prices.

Imagine this scenario, if you will. A new mother and father have just gotten the news that their baby has a life threatening defect. The only way that the child can be saved is by having surgery. The doctor tells them that the procedure will be very costly, but completely worth it. The couple gives each other looks of concern. They want their child to live. They want to watch him grow and play and learn. The parenting experience could be lost to them if they cannot save their son. While they think about these things, they know they cannot not afford the procedure. The man does not have a job and the woman is a teacher who is on maternity leave. If they want to save the life of their child they will have to borrow money from family or friends. They have a choice to make that no parent should be faced with. Of all infant deaths, 22% of these are caused by birth defects. No one wants their child to become a statistic. If the price of the procedure were cheaper or income based to the parents, they would not have to worry about their child becoming a statistic. You would not want to be in this situation, so why allow others to be there? Why should it cost thousands of dollars to save a life?

The price of medical care should not be something that people have to worry about. Why should people have to pay outrageous amount of money just to be healthy. This is something that has never made sense to me. I know that there is Medicare and other health care options that people can receive in order to reduce medical expenses, but some people do not qualify for them. Families don’t want to have to worry about going in debt in order to be healthy. The median cost of ER visits in 2013 was $1,233 according to the National Institution of Health. If a person needs to have an Appendectomy they have to pay approximately $14,000. Too many Americans cannot afford medical prices; these people need lower priced medical care and the government should chip in to help pay for these costs. The government should at least help out families with serious medical issues.

Thank you,

Elizabeth