Leon Lederman died on October 3, in an Idaho nursing home.
At one time, Lederman was the director of the Fermi Laboratory in Chicago, and had won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1988.
In 2015 he put his Nobel Prize medal up for auction — because he could not, otherwise, pay his medical bills.
This is what healthcare in the United States now looks like. And what about those who don’t have Nobel medals to auction off? Their recourse, quite often, is GoFundMe, where they use the Internet to beg strangers for the money they need to pay their medical bills.
This system is both cruel and nonsensical. It’s also what Republicans praise as “the best in the world!” (Idaho is a red state, which refuses to expand Medicaid).
If you ever need a reason to vote Democratic this election, think of this: whatever coverage you have, the Republicans would be too happy to take it away. Then it could be GoFundMe for you and your family.
With Democrats in Congress we have a chance. Without them we are doomed.
Lassie MacDonald
State College
