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 Health Care Is Important

Health Care Is Important
Reading Level
     edHelper's suggested reading level:   grades 4 to 6
     Flesch-Kincaid grade level:   7.34

Vocabulary
     challenging words:    anemia, encephalitis, inflammation, optometrist, pneumonia, insurance, medication, highly, medical, properly, asthma, enable, mumps, reading, running, lifestyle
     content words:    Policy Priorities

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Health Care Is Important
By Sheri Skelton 		  
1     Marcy loved to run. Her dream was to be a part of the Olympic team. She imagined herself running in the relay, passing the baton to her waiting teammate. She imagined herself breaking through the tape at the finish line, waving the baton high above her head.
 
2     Marcy knew that becoming a member of the Olympic team meant that she would have to work hard. She ran almost every day. Sometimes she would go to the track and run. But one day when she was running around the track, she was having trouble breathing. She felt as if someone's hands were choking her, and she couldn't get any air into her throat.
 
3     "Maybe I'm just tired, or coming down with a cold or something," thought Marcy. She felt fine the next few days, so she didn't think anything more about what had happened at the track. A few weeks later when she was out running, once again she was having trouble breathing. Marcy was worried, and when she told her mother about her problem, her mother was worried, too.
 
4     Marcy's mother took her to see their family doctor. Some tests showed that Marcy had asthma. The doctor explained that asthma is a disease that affects a person's airways. Asthma can't be cured, but it can be controlled. The doctor gave Marcy some pills that would help control her asthma. Once again she could run without having to worry.
 
5     Marcy was lucky because she had a family doctor, and her family could afford to take her to the doctor. Many people can't afford to visit the doctor or get prescriptions because they don't have health insurance to help with the costs of health care. In the U.S. in 2006, 47 million people were uninsured, and 8.7 million children were uninsured according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

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