Gwen Starkweather

I just watched an episode today about medical bills devastating families after having a baby. In the show they featured a family who had twins (in NICU) that accumulated $57,000 of debt. While I totally agree that is a heavy burden, and I feel for them, they showed a brand new updated home, a new SUV, expensive toys (remote ride on vehicle for the children), and a huge fenced in back yard. You just cannot have everything, something needs to give. While medical debt is a problem, I think the expectations young families have for living standards is over the top. My son in law is 30 years old, has $300,000 worth of debt, and is not finished with his medical training. He still has 3.5 more years of fellowship, with an income lower than the people the show featured. My daughter works as a nurse to help support them. They live in a home over 100 years old with no garage, one bathroom, no yard for their one year old……. They are sacrificing. I’m only writing this to bring to light the sacrifices our physicians make to be able to get the education and training to be able to save and treat our families. Maybe everyone needs to live within their means and not buy a brand new home and car when they know they have a high medical out of pocket plan.