A hospital worker talks on the phone walking out of a parking garage at the University of California San Francisco Parnassus campus (Photo credit: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters).

As a global pandemic pounces on America’s unprepared healthcare system, people are waking up to a harsh reality: cost is a barrier to medical care in this country and everyone is less safe because of it.

One proposed solution, while admittedly a step in the right direction, reveals a fundamental contradiction.

During a Democratic Primary Debate on March 15, Presidential Candidate Joe Biden advocated for free coronavirus treatment. He said “we’re at war with the virus” and because of that, treatment should be “all free, you don’t have to pay a thing.”

Kamala Harris, California Senator and Former 2020 Presidential Candidate herself, joined Biden’s call for free coronavirus treatment with this tweet:

Again, a great temporary solution for the deadly disease we’re dealing with right now. As of this writing, there are over 350,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the US and nearly 11,000 deaths. Nobody should be at risk of dying because they don’t have the money to get treatment.

But what about people suffering from cancer? Or diabetes? How about heart disease? Do these Americans deserve to die or go bankrupt because of medical fees?

Briahna Joy Gray, National Press Secretary for the 2020 Bernie Sanders Campaign, laid out that argument in a reply to the tweet from Harris:

If you aren’t familiar with the statistics or you’re privileged enough not to know someone in this situation, this might sound hyperbolic. After all, emergency rooms HAVE to treat you when you’re sick, right?

The reality is not that simple.

Over 500,000 Americans cite medical bills as a reason for their bankruptcy every year. In 2018, nearly 28 million Americans did not have health insurance. Even for those with health insurance, expensive copayments, premiums, and deductibles lead poor people to avoid care out of fear of financial ruin.

These cost barriers lead poor people to avoid preventative care, which risks letting their condition worsen until it becomes life-threatening and even more expensive to treat. It is a vicious cycle of financial and health burdens.

I have witnessed this fear of medical fees with my own eyes.