Uncle Abe

64, Altoona PA

Cindy Lovell writes:

My Uncle Abe worked as a self-employed plumber. Some years he could afford insurance, and some years he couldn't. He came down with congestive heart failure, and he could not afford insurance. He kept waiting to see a doctor until he turned 65 so he would have Medicare. He waited and hoped. Finally, he got so sick that my other two uncles went and got him. They intended to take him to the emergency room and pay his bill. Both are retired and on fixed incomes, yet their baby brother was so sick, and they were so scared, that they figured they would come up with some way to pay his hospital bills. However, Uncle Abe died in the emergency room... waiting to turn 65!

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