canceled

I didn't go for my 1 o'clock appointment with the urologist. Canceled it this morning. Throughout the weekend the discomfort in my lower left back was manageable, maybe even somewhat diminished from the days prior. I'm going to continue taking the antibiotic and hope for the best. Maybe the ache will slowly go away. If it gets worse, however, I will have to see a urologist and simply deal with the inevitable debt.

I know some people are skeptical of the recent Harvard study that found 45,000 Americans die every year from lack of health insurance. Those skeptics probably have never had to balance pain, which, while minor at the time, could lead to a major – and potentially deadly – health problem, with the nightmare of catastrophic debt and its associated consequences.

Here's my situation: Given my medical history I am almost certain that the ache in my left side is kidney related, and although I am in some level of discomfort throughout most of the day, the discomfort has yet to trump my willingness to take on potentially thousands of dollars in medical debt.

Here's my question: As an American citizen, is that a choice – the choice of pain or debt – I should have to make?

The United States is the only industrialized country that does not offer universal health care, and the United States annually spends approximately $2.26 trillion on health care, more than any other country on the planet.

If AGGRESSIVE health-care reform doesn't happen now, then when?

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