My brother was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of cancer last year, a few hours after taking possession of his first home and being responsible for a mortgage. He had 14 hours of surgery to remove an eye socket and half of the top of his jaw and then rebuild it with titanium and hip bone. 10+ weeks of radiation treatment. They're about to start what is technically cosmetic surgery, to give him new teeth and tighten up the side of his face they've been working on. He's back at work now, but he had about 4 months off work.

The cost of the medical treatment? A few thousand for sundry expenses. Australia's Medicare system picked up the tab for virtually all of it. He asked them the face value (hoho!) of the treatments, but no one was really sure how to work it out - it's at least 6 figures. I dread to think what it would have cost in the US...

He didn't lose his house or car. The baby that was born during his treatment didn't bankrupt anyone. He still has a job.

What a chilling example of a socialist government system interfering in his personal life!