The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday on a growing trend in hospitals: requiring payment upfront. Hospitals across the country are starting to require patients with limited or no health insurance to pay before they’re treated.

The article profiles an underinsured woman who was diagnosed with leukemia:

When Lisa Kelly learned she had leukemia in late 2006, her doctor advised her to seek urgent care at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. But the nonprofit hospital refused to accept Mrs. Kelly’s limited insurance. It asked for $105,000 in cash before it would admit her.

This is a total disgrace…What the hell happened to this being the greatest country in the world? It makes me sick to think that even one person has to find out they have cancer one day, and that they won’t be able to afford treatment the next. The worst part of this story, is that it is not a rarity…this is becoming the norm.

Could you afford a cancer diagnosis?