Michigan woman shoots herself for health care -- what she should have done instead

When the histories of the Great Recession are written, there should be a mention of Kathy Myers, the uninsured 41-year-old Michigan woman who got the bizarre idea to shoot herself in the hopes that the doctors who would treat her wound would also treat a torn rotator cuff that had been causing her agonizing pain for a month. The idea is absurd, but then again, so is the health care system.

Myers, like the estimated 46 million or so people who lack health insurance, has options for treatment, but they aren't great. She could have gone to one of the doctors or clinics that work on sliding scales based on a patient's ability to pay. Or visited one of the many free mobile clinics that have popped up around the country as unemployment rates climbed higher. A hospital would have provided charity care for her, as they tend to do for people without insurance.