Earlier this month, as I waited to pick up a prescription at my local CVS, I watched a man leave without his elderly father’s medication. The pharmacist had tried several tricks to lower the cost. It wasn’t enough. When the man heard the bottom line, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and, after a long, awkward silence, walked away.

That’s become a depressingly common scene. Americans are struggling to pay for their medicines, living in fear of health emergencies, and skipping out on basics like meals in order to cover their insurance premiums. Increasingly, they are going without insurance altogether.

© Bloomberg