California I recently traveled to the community where I grew up to attend to matters for my youngest brother, who has been disabled with a severe form of cerebral palsy all his life. His health had taken a downturn and I had to arrange for him to receive hospice services.

I left work at 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon, determined to get to my doctor’s office (50 miles away) before they closed at 5:00 pm. I had been without my diabetes medication for about five days because insurance wouldn’t cover refills without another prior authorization, and I didn’t have $800 to