An American Health Care Decision Tree

I had chest pain at 1am.
It took until 2:45 am for me to decide to go to the ER.

I Googled my symptoms.
I tried over-the-counter methods.

I checked my bank account. A $350 fee to start,  then follow up appointments, lab costs, medicines... it's  going to cost at least a week's pay, probably far more. I weighed my life against bills, groceries, a roof over head.

My county should do better. Citizens should be entitled to not be MORE afraid of the cost of a heart attack than of an actual heart attack.

We need a leader. Maybe we need another country to show us the way. I'd like my country to be the best, but it isn't. There are places in this world where if you had good reason to think you were having a heart attack, where you had 80% of the possible symptoms, you'd just go to a doc. Not stop to check your bank first.

I can't go again. I used my emergency fund. I don't have another $350. Until I do,  I have to not need an ER. As if that's something that can be controlled.