Exactly- if there were less government benefits, maybe she would have been more resourceful. I had an abscessed tooth where the infection spread to my face and my dental insurance would not begin for a couple of weeks. I went to the ER and they were able to treat me with antibiotic right away, clearing up the inflection and giving me time to have the tooth removed when my insurance kicked in. They offered to bill me (I did have health insurance) so it seems to me that she could have done the same thing and then paid off the bill later, even she paid a little at a time. Instead she waited on the government, which means waiting on an inpersonal and bureaucratic process.
No doctor or dentist is going to let a child die because they don't have insurance.
We don't know how resourceful she is or isn't. From some of the posts made on this thread thus far, it is clear that even for the resourceful and insured, real life doesn't always work the way we think it should.
It must be even more difficult for the poor and uninsured.
I had an abscessed tooth where the infection spread to my face and my dental insurance would not begin for a couple of weeks. I went to the ER and they were able to treat me with antibiotic right away, clearing up the inflection and giving me time to have the tooth removed when my insurance kicked in. They offered to bill me (I did have health insurance) so it seems to me that she could have done the same thing and then paid off the bill later, even she paid a little at a time. Instead she waited on the government, which means waiting on an inpersonal and bureaucratic process.
Maybe she went to the ER and was sent away because they didn't consider it to be a medical emergency at the time.