Family Budgets and Health Care: One Couple's Story

Sixty-year-old Ron Gaston was a shipping and receiving clerk in Wichita, Kan., who earned about $30,000 a year. But a layoff means that Gaston and his ailing wife have no insurance and they are in debt. The Gastons are an example of the narrow financial ledge on which millions of low- and middle- income households stand because of health costs.

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<h1>Family Budgets and Health Care: One Couple’s Story</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2009-06-01T00:00:00-04:00">
			June 1, 2009		</time>
		</div>
<p>Sixty-year-old Ron Gaston was a shipping and receiving clerk in Wichita, Kan., who earned about $30,000 a year. But a layoff means that Gaston and his ailing wife have no insurance and they are in debt. The Gastons are an example of the narrow financial ledge on which millions of low- and middle- income households stand because of health costs.</p><ul><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/0601familybudget/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/0601familybudget/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/0601familybudget/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Family%20Budgets%20and%20Health%20Care%3A%20One%20Couple%27s%20Story&body=https%3A%2F%2Fkffhealthnews.org%2Fnews%2F0601familybudget%2F&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/0601familybudget/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/0601familybudget/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p><p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/0601familybudget/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org">KFF Health News</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=9917&amp;ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

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