I am a 32-year-old MBA and was working in Mergers and Acquisitions for an energy company in Houston when I was laid off one year ago and lost my medical benefits. I did not elect to purchase COBRA because the cost was $800/month. After I lost my job, I developed a dental abcess requiring a $1200 root canal. Although I knew the abcess was serious, I was so concerned about keeping my rent paid and credit cards paid so that my credit was not ruined during unemployment that I put the procedure off month after month. Over one year I have completely depleted my savings, have had to dip into my retirement, and developed an abcess so serious that my dentist believes I was a few months away from cardiomyopathy or potentially releasing the dental bacteria into the brain through my blood stream. I was able to borrow money from family to have the abcess treated, but my fear of spending any money I have now on medical care is only growing after a year without work. I did not know that my decision to spend $1200 was potentially fatal. I just knew that I had to make sacrifices to keep my credit cards paid so that one day I can have a house. Should I have to make that choice? Now that I have gone so long without coverage, insurers can deny me coverage for preexisting conditions or charge me rates that would be so exhorbitant that I would have to choose between defaulting on my credit cards or having less in groceries. I did not put myself through graduate school to live this quality of life.