"It would be great if there were something unusual about this story: A person without health insurance gets sick. The person holds off on going to the doctor because there's no way to pay the bill. The person is denied the full range of treatment because of the absence of insurance. The person dies." -- Bob Herbert, "Worsening the Odds", The New York Times, 2007-11-03
[Regrettably, a browser crash prevented me from using the 'back' button to check which friend quoted this closer to when it was published.]