With a single-payer system, whether called Medicare for All or universal health care, everyone would be able to access health care; health would, that is, become a right. Most likely, such programs would be covered by a tax increase, yet they would cost each person so much less than what is now being paid out to insurance companies.

After an illness, accident, or chronic disease hits, a startling number of those of us with health insurance find that we have to choose between paying for daily needs and paying our medical bills.

The surgery, for instance, was $72,000, but my insurance only covers $67,000 of it. The other $5,000 is my co-pay. Add in the co-pays for everything from that ambulance to other medical services, and my costs come to almost $13,000.

I get charged a $40 co-pay. There’s nothing I can do about it. After all, my goal is to get back on my feet, literally as well as metaphorically. Still, that’s $120 a week for 16 weeks and so my out-of-pocket patient expenses begin to add up.

My friend whispers that every extra day in the hospital will cost a mint.

My friend returns to my cubicle and asks, “Is this the only insurance you have?” I panic. Will they not accept me? But they have to! It’s the ER! That’s the reassurance I offer myself and then I tell her, “Yes, it’s all I have.” She looks doubtful. “What?” I ask desperately. “What?” Current Issue View our current issue Subscribe today and Save up to $129. var magazine_text_313424 = ''; var magazine_button_text_313424 = ''; var magazine_button_url_313424 = ''; var magazine_button_bg_color_313424 = ''; var is_user_logged_in = getCookie('SESSname'); if( is_user_logged_in != null ){ magazine_text_313424 = '<p><span id="\\\"\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"socialHighlighted\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\"\\\""><span id="\\\"\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"tweetButton\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\"\\\"" class="\\\"\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"socialButtonHighlight\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\"\\\""><span class="\\\"\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"clickheresocial\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\"\\\""></span></span> <span id="\\\"\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"emailButton\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\"\\\"" class="\\\"\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"socialButtonHighlight\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\"\\\""><span class="\\\"\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"clickheresocial\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\\\\\"\\\\\"\\\""></span></span></span>If you like this article, please give today to help fund <em>The Nation</em>’s work.</p>'; magazine_button_text_313424 = '<a href="javascript:void(0)"><input type="button" class="btn btn_ffcf0d" name="submit_sailthru" value="Donate"></a>'; magazine_button_url_313424 = 'https://www.thenation.com/email-signup-module-donate/'; magazine_button_bg_color_313424 = '#ffcf0d'; }else{ magazine_text_313424 = '<p>Subscribe today and Save up to $129.</p>'; magazine_button_text_313424 = '<a href="javascript:void(0)"><input type="button" class="btn btn_d41d00" name="submit_sailthru" value="Subscribe"></a>'; magazine_button_url_313424 = 'https://subscribe.thenation.com/flex/NA/key/G0EECAT/'; magazine_button_bg_color_313424 = '#dd3333'; } if( magazine_text_313424 !='' ){ jQuery("#magazine_text_313424").html(magazine_text_313424); } if( magazine_button_text_313424 !='' ){ jQuery("#magazine_button_313424").html(magazine_button_text_313424); } if( magazine_button_url_313424 !='' ){ jQuery("#magazine_button_313424 a").attr("href",magazine_button_url_313424); } if( magazine_button_bg_color_313424 !='' ){ jQuery("#magazine_button_313424 a input").css("background",magazine_button_bg_color_313424); } “Don’t you have some kind of supplemental?” And she begins to try to explain, but I can’t deal with this right now.

On this extremely hot summer day, the ear-splitting siren screaming through New York’s streets is coming from the ambulance I’m in—on a gurney on my way to the ER. That only makes the siren, loud as it is, all the more alarming.