Meet Carol, a patient fighting breast cancer.
Since she was diagnosed, Carol has been receiving treatment for breast cancer. Her insurance only covers 80% of the cost, and she is unable to work in her current condition. However, the hospital does not consider her to be in a low enough income bracket to offer financial assistance.
Even with insurance, her procedures and medications add up to thousands of dollars. She continues to undergo chemotherapy and radiation, leaving her both “physically [and] mentally exhausted.” But, her hospital remains unsympathetic. As she expresses, “It’s very heartbreaking because you are trying to get better. You’re trying not to stress and not to put your family in an amazing amount of debt.”
She shares her belief that hospitals should be limited in what they charge for services, asking them to simply “be realistic about it.” Carol leaves us with a powerful call for reform: “Hopefully something in our system changes where the people are more important than the money, and I hope I get to see that day.”
Watch her full story below:
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