Blue Shield of California is denying me life-saving and life-prolonging treatments. I am 36 years old and have Blue Shield HMO health insurance coverage through my employer. In January 2009, I was diagnosed with metastatic (stage 4) breast cancer. When discovered, it had already spread to my bones, lungs, liver, and brain. My doctors prescribed a medication that targets and removes the cancer throughout the body like a "smart bomb"; however Blue Shield of California denied coverage of my doctors' recommended treatment. Blue... (more)

On February 7, 2008 our family was shattered when we lost our one and only son Clinton Ron Walker at the age of 17. For over a year, Clinton had suffered strange seizures that would rack his body and cause him to run, jump and moan for over 2 or 3 minutes. He went to the pediatrician who wanted to send him to a special clinic but my insurance AETNA denied our request. After months of visiting several doctors, and receiving a misdiagnoses of panic attacks, our peditrician found a new neurologist who was set to take on Clinton's case using my... (more)

I just got off the phone with my health insurance company. I had just received an Explanation of Benefits showing my deductible was not met, and a bill from a doctor showing that I owed the whole thing. Now this seemed curious. I have breast cancer and have already been through multiple imaging procedures, surgery, installation of a portacath and the first round of chemo. My deductible was met a long time ago. The explanation? I have two deductibles on my plan, one for “in plan” and one for “out of plan.” I’d seen my dermatologist... (more)

MAULED BY A BEAR THEN MAULED BY BLUE CROSS Last summer, while working on my ranch in the Southern Sierra mountains, I was attacked and badly mauled by a predatory black bear. Although my face was ripped off, and I was blinded, I was able to make my way back to my vehicle and drive myself down a rutted mountain road to a fire station for help. From there I was airlifted to UCLA Medical Center where a team of nearly a hundred people put me back together in a grueling seven-hour emergency surgery. That was the easy part. Although I’ve... (more)

Dear President Obama, I am thirty one years old and am in several thousand dollars debt because I was unable to get insurance for several years because of a "pre existing condition". In m early twenties I was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. I was fortunate enough to have caught it early and had a minor surgery to have it removed. I did not have insurance at the time because my full time job did not offer it. I tried to get private insurance but because I have had a history of skin cancer, the only type of insurance I could... (more)

Dear Mr. President, The main reason I decided to remain in Germany after serving and completing my enlistment in the USAF was the excellent health care system here. Sad and pitiful, isn't it...that I would CHOOSE to stay in a foreign country and obtain a German residency/working permit rather than return to my own country because of the lack of health care services and astronomical costs of medical insurance. I have a son who is diagnosed with hydrocephalus, CP, and has various physical and mental disabilities... so for me, this decision... (more)

I am not sure what exactly to write or how to even begin explaining my story. I like a lot of other American households fall into a range where I make too much for Medicaid or Chips. I am a single mother of 3 amazing young men. We did have insurance while their father was serving in the Military but even that system is flawed as we had to travel 3 hours to another state to get a simple check up for a cold or to coordinate with the primary care provider for all referrals. My oldest son Malachai has what is diagnosed as a Vein of Galen... (more)

I am a hardworking, middle class, college graduate, and i am being crushed by the rising costs and poor quality of health insurance. In 2003 I had just started a new job, my old health insurance plan had expired and my new health insurance had not yet started, i was in my probationary 60 day period before benefits begin. I became very sick one saturday morning and had a large swollen lump located on my Abdomen just above my groin. My fiancee rushed me to the emergency room, where i was told i had a burst blood vessel in my abdomen and would... (more)

I lost my beloved son to our terrible system last year. He had no insurance and so couldn't get diagnostic tests for his cancer until it was too late to save his life. Several times, his doctors wrote, "Patient needs a colonoscopy but can't afford one." By the time he gopt help, he was in renal failure and vomiting fecal matter. He didn't matter to the system because he didn't have insurance or money. He mattered to me, though, and to the rest of his family and friends. He was one of 30,000 people who died in the last year simply... (more)

I am a 60-year old MBA professional with my own consulting business in healthcare administration and my husband is a physician. We have health insurance through the FEHB program. Most people would consider us well-off compared to others and might assume healthcare is not a problem. How wrong can you be. Here are just a few recent vignettes out of dozens I could give you. Private Insurance. This is a sick joke. My daughter turned 22 in February of her senior year in college. Our insurance carrier notified us she would be off our policy on... (more)

I moved from Canada to Colorado 15 years ago and love this state - but still struggle with the dismal results of the US health care system. The unfortunately successful propaganda campaign by the US health care lobby industry is nothing short of shameful. My father, Gene, a retired automative worker who lives outside Windsor, Ontario, has suffered from diabetes for 30 years. Beyond the management of his diabetes, he was amazingly healthy until his late 70s. At that time he suffered a series of health challenges; he needed - and RECEIVED - in... (more)

It's the phone call in the middle of the night that no parent ever wants to receive. Your son, a student at George Washington University, has been taken by ambulance to the emergency room. The doctor on the other end of the line explains, as you desperately wake-up into the nightmare, that in a bicycle accident your child has landed on his jaw, has broken almost all the bones in his face and has lost many teeth. He's lucky; there was no spinal damage, no brain injury, no eye involvement, and he's alive. But even after 5 hours of surgery, and 8... (more)

I am 53 years old, and recently remarried (Dec '08). When I had to take a 5% pay cut just after the marriage, I thought I was lucky because I still had a job, and health care that cost me more than $350 a month out of my paycheck. Then, on March 1, I was converted to an independent contractor at less than half pay, and with NO benefits. Just a few weeks ago, I suffered a seizure. And I have no health care. VA offers no assistance because they go by LAST year's income, which means I have to remain poor for another year before they will help.... (more)

Dear President Obama and Vice-President Biden: It is with great reluctance that I share my story with you as I am a private person. Further, I fear the potential repercussions for my career if the details about my illness become public. However, I know that this issue is so critical for our country that I am compelled to speak out. In July 2005, I was diagnosed with an extensive and aggressive breast cancer. I was given 12-18 months to live without treatment. I was 47 years old and President of an active community economic... (more)

I am a palliative care social worker at Stanford Hospital. I have a patient who is 27 years old with B-cell lymphoma. He's married, and has a 2 1/2 year old child. He is not working now, and is on disability, and his spouse is doing all of the work -- taking care of their child, coordinating MD appts. Their insurance company originally authorized the patient to get a bone marrow transplant, the only therapy that will possibly work for him. However, the employer then switched is insurance to one that had a $100,000 cap instead of the... (more)

I'm a former college athlete, triathlete, and surfer who was diagnosed with Crohn's disease at age 22 and later vasculitis. I eat well, exercise all the time, don't smoke or do any drugs, and yet my pre-existing medical conditions permanently taint my medical records. Without my workplace's incredible health care coverage, I don't know what I would do (which terrifies me after watching many of my friends get laid off). Additionally, it's nearly impossible for me to pay my student loans and my health care deductibles/extras -- and I have a... (more)

My husband and I were visiting with a foreign exchange student in Sweden that we had sponsored several years ago. My husband had to be transported to the hospital via ambulance about 1 a.m. The ambulance arrived within 10 minutes after asking if they needed to be there sooner. The EMT's were professional and competent. My husband was taken straight to an examining room. His fever was 104 and rising. His care was through and comprehensive. He was in a private room within an hour and being given further diagnostic exams within two hours.... (more)

My wife and I learned two years ago that I had contracted Chronic Hep C. As the disease ravaged my body and mind, I had to take a break from my I.T. carer of over 15 years. Instead of getting better I developed End Stage Liver Disease. My expensive cobra and medications eat away at my limited social security disability. My wife and I are in our mid 40's were making a very respectable income. My time is running out waiting for a new liver. (I don't have the cash like Steven Jobs obviously does.) I was turned down by the cobra extension... (more)

Think this can't happen to you? Think again. First, you lose your job through no fault of your own which is your only source of income. Within a couple months you become ill but you can't afford diagnostics and doctors won't see you anyway without insurance. This is fact. I could have borrowed any amount of money I needed to get treatment but I was turned away simply because I didn't have insurance. After several months I was eventually diagnosed with cancer and told I needed surgery asap. But I was still denied treatment because I didn't have... (more)

I am a single parent who was layed off from Bank of America in 2007. I was offered to stay on the company's medical plan but the premium was over $1300 a month. So I opted for COBRA as it was $770 a month. After Cobra ran out, I was denied medical insurance for pre-existing conditions. I had paid medical premiums non-stop for 40 years and now I cannot get quality medical insurance. I'm 61 and my son is 17. I am very healthy for my age and need a major medical plan. I've tried these guaranteed plans and they hardly cover the expense. My... (more)