The bill is for three dollars.
It’s the kind of charge most people would barely notice — less than a cup of coffee. But for Dalhia, that $3 balance has become a barrier. Until it’s paid, the lab won’t move forward with the next round of medical testing she needs.
“This could literally threaten my life,” she says .
Dalhia spends her professional life helping others survive trauma. A national trainer, she works with schools shattered by mass shootings and suicides. As a community artist, she paints murals in schools and public spaces, turning grief into color and resilience .
Yet when it comes to her own health, she describes herself as “always chasing medical” .
Her debt story began years ago after she lost her job and was hospitalized for two days because she “wasn’t feeling right.” The bill that followed reached several hundred thousand dollars . This was before the Affordable Care Act. Because she had a chronic illness, insurers flagged her. Coverage, if available at all, cost more than she could afford.
Two prescriptions she needed to survive — “literally, my heart would stop without these two pills” — cost $1,500 each per month .
Charity care eventually discharged part of her six-figure hospital bill , but the collection notices kept coming. The debt affected her credit, her housing options, her sense of stability. Later, while caring for a gravely ill loved one, she injured herself. More bills piled up.
The Affordable Care Act once brought relief. One year, her premium was just a few dollars. Now she faces projections of nearly $1,000 a month .
“I don’t have it,” she says .
Her message to lawmakers is simple: “There are human lives behind these bills” .
For Dalhia, the fight over healthcare isn’t abstract. It is measured in prescriptions, lab tests — and a $3 bill standing between her and the care she needs.
In the U.S., close to 100 million people have medical debt, and most cases of bankruptcy are the result of medical debt. One essential step to limiting medical debt in Florida is for the state to expand Medicaid. Florida is one of just 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid. To learn more, see here.
The bill is for three dollars.
It’s the kind of charge most people would barely notice — less than a cup of coffee. But for Dalhia, that $3 balance has become a barrier. Until it’s paid, the lab won’t move forward with the next round of medical testing she needs.
“This could literally threaten my life,” she says .
Dalhia spends her professional life helping others survive trauma. A national trainer, she works with schools shattered by mass shootings and suicides. As a community artist, she paints murals in schools and public spaces, turning grief into color and resilience .
Yet when it comes to her own health, she describes herself as “always chasing medical” .
Her debt story began years ago after she lost her job and was hospitalized for two days because she “wasn’t feeling right.” The bill that followed reached several hundred thousand dollars . This was before the Affordable Care Act. Because she had a chronic illness, insurers flagged her. Coverage, if available at all, cost more than she could afford.
Two prescriptions she needed to survive — “literally, my heart would stop without these two pills” — cost $1,500 each per month .
Charity care eventually discharged part of her six-figure hospital bill , but the collection notices kept coming. The debt affected her credit, her housing options, her sense of stability. Later, while caring for a gravely ill loved one, she injured herself. More bills piled up.
The Affordable Care Act once brought relief. One year, her premium was just a few dollars. Now she faces projections of nearly $1,000 a month .
“I don’t have it,” she says .
Her message to lawmakers is simple: “There are human lives behind these bills” .
For Dalhia, the fight over healthcare isn’t abstract. It is measured in prescriptions, lab tests — and a $3 bill standing between her and the care she needs.
In the U.S., close to 100 million people have medical debt, and most cases of bankruptcy are the result of medical debt. One essential step to limiting medical debt in Florida is for the state to expand Medicaid. Florida is one of just 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid. To learn more, see here.
