Eric Dively 
Kent Huffnagle has been round and round the U.S. healthcare system. His medical battles have forced him to get to know the ins and outs of this user-unfriendly scheme. It now costs more money to buy healthcare insurance than before the Affordable Care Act became law. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said that the increasing costs of healthcare will put an immense amount of stress on the federal budget for the next 30 years or more.
In an update to the article, Kent suffered heart failure Feb. 7, 2019. He was admitted to Keck Hospital at USC to be put on a heart transplant list but before he could be added, Kent sustained a stroke. While recovering from the stroke, he underwent open heart surgery to help oxygenate his blood. This effort would prove to be futile as he began to endure organ failure. Under doctor advisement, life support was shut off and Kent passed away May 21, 2019.
Kent left behind his wife, Sarah and 8 year old daughter, Dinah. He was the sole provider for his family. Now they don’t know how they will get by. Sarah created a GoFundMe page as a memorial to Kent and to help with some expenses.
This story is all too familiar for many families in the United States due to the extraordinary costs of medical expenses. An average of $5000 per year is spent out-of-pocket by American citizens on healthcare costs. Healthcare can wipe out what nest eggs people have saved up within the blink of an eye. 62% of bankruptcies are a result of medical costs. Of those Americans with medical bills, 70% of them were forced to cut food expenses to avoid bankruptcy. Having insurance can give people a false sense of security since basic healthcare doesn’t cover long-term care. In more than 75% of medical bankruptcy cases, families had health insurance. Given this grim situation, 39% of Americans are more concerned about medical costs than COVID-19.
