Published January 01. 2021 1:30PM Dr. Stephen R. Smith Recently, a patient of mine nearly died when he allowed his blood count to get too low. The patient suffers from a serious, chronic illness that causes slow blood loss. He didn’t have insurance, so he avoided medical care until he felt so weak that he would go for a transfusion. This time, he waited too long. His hemoglobin fell to 4.7 — one-third of normal levels — which could have been fatal. Fortunately, he survived, but his brush with death is a story that many Americans who also lack health insurance know all too well.