In case there are people who still don’t understand how screwed up the USA is, in regards to medical care, I present to you Steven K. Brust. Mr. Brust is a successful science fiction author. He’s published around 20 novels, been on the NYTimes bestseller list, and is considered a decent fellow. He’s also in danger of losing his house because he got sick this year.  Commenters on his blog who are not from the United States are aghast that someone could have to declare bankruptcy due to illness. No other developed nation allows citizens to go broke getting sick. It seems deeply immoral and inhumane to me.
Fortunately for Brust, he has a dedicated following of fans (personally, I’ve only read Cowboy Feng – it was amusing) who are helping him out financially. How many less well-known people are declaring bankruptcy today because of a hospital bill from last year?
Eva Whitley’s husband, Jack Chalker, died in 2005. Despite a pile of pretty popular books, his illness drained their resources.
http://evawhitley.net/category/moving/
Wow, Chalker was much more popular than Brust. He was nearly legendary among the fantasy group, and his SF was pretty well-received as well. Just goes to show that our medical care “system” isn’t one at all.