Well, here I am writing while my husband sits with two butterfly bandages on his chin that I put there, so he doesn't talk and keeping our fingers crossed that the bleeding on his chin stops... This is my world for the past 3 hours.

Let's go back 3 hours shall we? My husband went surfing this afternoon. Something he does any time he gets a chance. With the hurricane the gulf is getting some really good waves. Well he sees one, paddles in, overshoots the wave and the wave crashes on his head. In the process his face smacks the board and his tooth exits through the front of his lip.

Normal people would say at this time go to the ER. Right? Well we are in that group of people who can not afford health insurance. I called the ER, to find out what I could do for him, and how much it would cost if he needed to get 3-4 stitches the max it could need. (Remember I am a Certified Licensed Athletic Trainer, I have seen busted lips enough in the training room to know what it is.)

The hospital's response: "You need to bring him to the ER, we can't give you an exact price without seeing him."

My response: "I understand that, I just need to find out if we can afford the 3 stitches. That is all he needs, his pupils are dilating and contracting as normal, there was no metal involved, he has no broken bones, he has no loose teeth, all he needs is 3-4 stitches."

Hospital response: "Well we can't answer that because if he comes in he will be required to have X-rays, get a tetanus shot, do some blood work, and then they can decide if he needs stitches or not."

Me: "OK, I didn't make myself clear. We don't have insurance and he does not need all those things. He just needs 3-4 stitches. Can you please tell me how much 3-4 stitches would be?"

Hospital: "Well we don't have a price list for stitches, but I can tell you that to sign in and see a NURSE, the cost is $899.95."

Me: "Excuse me? Seriously? It should not cost that much for stitches... we are talking about 3-4 small pieces of string. There is no way we can afford $900 for a NURSE."

Hospital: "You can come in and we will bill you for anything else that they do."

Me: "Like what?"

Hospital: "Well if he needs to see a Dr. that is more. If he needs a tetanus shot that is more. If the Dr. determines they want an X-ray that is more. And if they decide he needs stitches of course that is more."

So what is a person to do? I budget extremely well, and consider us to be doing OK. We are in our early 30's raising our daughter on our own, not asking our parents for money, working hard, paying our bills, not in foreclosure, but to do these things there is nothing left over.

Insurance for our family would cost at least $175 per month, and that is if we had an absurd deductible per person. So each year we would have to make an extra $2100 and have the deductible of over $6000 ready for an emergency.

Now, others will say, why not apply with the state? They offer help to people like you. Right? Wrong! If I make more than $2,500 per month combined income with my husband and myself we don't qualify. Now shall we do a little math? My mortgage is $1,400 (includes taxes and insurance escrow, we did not buy out of our means, just got hit with taxes and insurance after the fact), food is $250 this is being conservative with the price of food now, electric $175 (going up 7% by the end of the year per the electric company), gas $500 (my husband drives with his job and the price of gas we all know is a killer), internet $45 (have to have for work), cable we can't afford, car insurance $231 per month (mandatory), phone $45 (required for work), cell phones $99 total (required for work). So according to the government to be eligible for any help we would have to make $245 less than our bills.

Yet, here is the kicker. They use the parent's verifiable income to determine if a child is qualified. Is a parent's immigration status part of eligibility?- No. The Florida KidCare application does not ask about parents' status. If my daughter could be covered by one then I would at least know she is protected even if her father and I aren't. But because we are citizens struggling to make ends meet we are disqualified from any help.

Today really scared me. I can honestly say I have no idea what to do... I do the budgeting in the house. I know what money we have and what we don't. There is definitely not an extra $175-200 per month for insurance available. It just isn't there. And then something like today happens and I say, "Holy Crap!" Excuse the language please, but this is serious not just for me but for many other American Citizens as well.

The election scares me more than many can realize because I am self employed this puts me on a major chopping block if the Democrats get in office, and none of the money they want to take from me is going to be used to help my family. The hospital used to be a place where you went for help, now it is a place that I dread because no matter what I am screwed if I ever have to walk through it's doors.

If the Dr.'s don't kill me, the cost will make it where there is absolutely no choice but to declare bankruptcy. It does not surprise me that they don't get paid on many of their services. They are so over priced no one can afford it, and it doesn't matter if you owe $1.00 or $1 million it will hit your credit the same. Why bother?

Sorry for the rant, but this is a serious issue in the country today and I cannot believe it was meant that we have the worst statistics of any country in the world on everything medical EXCEPT emergency medicine, yet so many can not afford it.

Well, it looks like my husband's bleeding has stopped for the moment. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as he tries to eat for the first time since he did it.