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 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)

* 23 year old * Mother of a 2 year old daughter * Wife of an amazing husband * Former Medical Student * Fighting for my life due to a disease that affects 1 out of 1 million people and has no known cause. I have never voted for a president, based on their political party association, or status. I vote for who I believe truly stands for the most important issue, which to me is health. I voted for Obama, for many reasons, but most importantly because he seems and is proving to be one of the most... (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 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)

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)

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)

I fortunately married an Italian and we are covered by the health services in Italy. It is shameful to think that tourists coming to America have no coverage when in the USA but the millions of Americans who travel to Italy or other countries in the European Union are given FREE healthcare when here. There is no billing for Emergency and most other services. I, as an American but a foreign resident, have no valid coverage in the USA! The system is totally broken,unfair,and a money-making farce. Prescriptions which I take in Italy and... (more)

This morning I took my my puppy out in the yard. She likes people so when my neighbor came out to warm up his wife's car, Cha Cha made a mad dash for him. Trying to run after her and keep her from running into the street, I tripped on a tree root and fell face first into the street. I felt something in my face crushing when the street hit me in the face. I must have blacked out briefly because I felt someone holding on to my arm trying to help me up and I didn't see anyone. I called paramedics and was taken to the local community hospital. The... (more)

I could talk about how I have to choose between taking my medications and paying my food or utility bill but I want to talk about my granddaughter. In 2006, someone broke into our home and stabbed my granddaughter Megan, killed her mother and then stabbed my youngest daughter and I. She has been unable to obtain healthcare since that terrible night because the insurance company considers the collapsed lungs she suffered from that attack to be a pre existing condition and therefore it will cost much more to cover her. She is a nanny and does... (more)

I'm a 26 year old woman with an undergraduate degree and a juris doctorate. Last year, while still in law school, my gall bladder became infected. It had to be removed in an emergency procedure, which kept me in the hospital for 8 days as I battled pancreatitus. When everything was said and done, my bills were over $100,000. I fought my insurance company for over a year to get them to make payments on my claims, while they tried to deny them, calling my gall bladder infection a pre existing condition. When I finally prevailed, I was told that... (more)

In 1948, the United Kingdom put into law, a universal healthcare plan. When my sister’s daughter was visiting my sister in Canada and came down with an upper respiratory infection, my sister’s government paid to treat her daughter. My own country would not have done that. My sister’s mother-in-law became very ill and the doctor put her on six different medications. Within a few weeks, she became even more ill from the medicine prescribed by the doctor. She had every side effect possible, lost over 30 pounds in a few weeks. She... (more)

I have a lifelong friend (pictured) who has Stage 4 uterine cancer with little hope of remission. We have been friends since we met in 7th grade band class -- 50 years ago. The sad part of possibly losing her is that THIS COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED!! She lives on a small farm, in a small Texas town and supports herself by running a flower shop. The business barely meets her house note and feeds her and leaves no room for extras -- like health insurance. She knew something was wrong but could not afford to go to the doctor. Finally,... (more)

I worked for United Health Care in small group customer service. If a company was more than 5 days late in their monthly payments, United would "terminate" their coverage. When they were terminated the group administrator from the "termed" company would call me to reinstate their coverage. I would take their phone number, go to my supervisor's office and get a computer disk showing all small groups "loss ratios." If the company I was working with was in the high risk ratio, I was not to reinstate their coverage.... (more)

I am a practicing physician assistant. Almost every day an insurance company denies something that I have tried to do for one of my patients, either prescribe a medicine or order a procedure. I have now started to prepare patients for the possibility that their health care will be "rationed" by somebody at their insurance company and follow it with this: "the people opposed to a new system of health care in this country want you to believe it will end up 'rationing'health care. Health care is and has been rationed for a very... (more)

My wife was dying from cancer. Her oncologist prescribed an expensive pain killer for her to reduce her suffering. Our insurance refused to cover it and it was to expensive for us to pay for ourselves. She suffered with her pain for the next few days before she passed away. I’ll bet the person with our medical insurance that refused the coverage of this pain killer got a bonus for saving them the cost of the prescription.