You Don’t Think We Need Healthcare Reform?

by Gabe Berman
Gabe is the author of Live Like a Fruit Fly

I bumped into a friend in Starbucks yesterday. And I don’t literally mean “bumped into” but it was a close call because she’s eight and half months pregnant and her belly was basically taking up the entire store.

Jokingly I asked, “Do you have college saved up for the baby yet?”

She responded, but far from jokingly, “I can’t even think about saving for college. I’m putting $2400 together to save the cord blood. And then it costs between $150 to $300 to keep it.”

According to www.cordblood.com, “Cord blood is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells, which have been used in transplant medicine to treat many life-threatening diseases, such as leukemia and other cancers…using your own family’s cord blood instead of an unrelated donor’s can have significant advantages, including fewer complications and improved medical outcomes.”

Many prominent Republicans argue that we have the best healthcare system in the world. That’s easy to say when you can afford it.

Can you?

By: Gabe Berman

Gabe Berman is a native New Yorker who settled in South Florida after graduating from the University of Miami. An epiphany, a passion, and a trail of breadcrumbs led him out of Corporate America and into the career he was meant for. After eight years of writing columns for the Miami Herald, his book - Live Like A Fruit Fly - was published by HCI Books and subsequently endorsed by Deepak Chopra. His second book, The Complete B.S. Free and Totally Tested Writing Guide, helps artists find their voice and his latest work, Where Is God When Our Loved Ones Get Sick?, uncovers the answer to this haunting question.