Jessica Leanne Hurt died on June 13, 2009. She was 21 years old. Jessica had gallstones, which could have been fixed by a fairly minor surgical procedure. Although there is a crisis in this country, with over 45 million people uninsured, that was not Jessica’s situation. She was employed and had health insurance.

As the gallstone problem developed she sought treatment and surgery was recommended. However, she was informed that she would be required to pay $5000 upfront to cover her deductible and co-pay before she could have surgery. She tried several hospitals, in an attempt to work out a payment plan, but was unable to find one willing to work with her. As her pain increased she ended up in the emergency room on several occasions, but each time she was sent home with nothing but pain medication.

She grew sicker over the next few months and working became increasingly difficult. Eventually she lost her job, and with it her insurance, because she missed work too often. On the evening of May 22nd, in tremendous pain, she went to the emergency room again. This time she was sick enough that the hospital admitted her, even without insurance.

By morning she was in ICU with pancreatitis and sepsis. Her kidneys had failed and her liver was starting to also. Her body was shutting down. The doctors and nurses worked desperately to save her as her family and friends waited and prayed. She was on a ventilator and dialysis, in and out of consciousness, for three weeks before she died.

During the time that she was in the ICU, now unemployed, uninsured, and gravely disabled, Jessica qualified for Medicaid; thankfully, because her hospital bill rose to over $400,000. In an extraordinary example of the system being penny wise and dollar foolish, Jessica Hurt died and almost half a million taxpayer dollars were spent because a $5000 upfront payment was required.

I don’t know what the answer is, but our system is broken and something needs to change.