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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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