My younger brother was self employed, and paid a huge monthly health insurance payment for insurance with a very high deductible. He developed a painful kidney stone, and went to a urologist, who told him he needed a cat scan. It was late March, and he knew that April 15 was coming, with a large tax bill due, so he attempted to treat the condition himself, by taking a "natural" remedy which was supposed to help dissolve the kidney stone. It was a powerful diuretic, and he was drinking huge quantities of water. He had been doing this... (more)

I have been an entrepreneur for 40 years. I have started several small companies providing hundreds of jobs over the years, many of which were in industries which did not typically offer employees health insurance. Often this made it impossible to offer employer paid insurance and still remain competitive. I have watched people I care about risking their financial security and health because care was unavailable and, or unaffordable. As buyers of individual health coverage, my wife and I have had to navigate the insurance company rules... (more)

I am a medical doctor with the experience of working at Boston Medical Center, a large publicly-funded hospital that has traditionally served the marginalized and uninsured; i also currently work at Stanford Hospital in the heart of one of the wealthiest counties in our country. I see the problems that arise when people go without insurance and primary care and are faced with debilitating illnesses that follow. With greater, more affordable healthcare coverage for underserved populations, I truly believe we can not only extend coverage to a... (more)

I am a 56 year old woman, small business owner, and pay $608 per month for health insurance. I am grateful that I have insurance. My friend found a lump in her breast and has been referred for a biopsy. She has a high deductible policy (so she can afford the premiums), and has just discovered that a breast biopsy may cost at much as $9000, for which she will be on the hook for at least half of that. She is actually questioning whether or not she should have the biopsy, since she doesn't know now she can pay the bills with her income. She... (more)

In 1981 I was in a terrible gas explosion, in which my husband died and I had third degree burns on 50% of my body. I was sent to emergency care at Brotman-Memorial Hospital and after they stablized us and we would survive a change in locations they sent us by ambulance to County General in Los Angeles. A spokesman for Brotman-Memorial told my mother, "We are a profit-making institution. They have no insurance." Shortly after we were moved my husband died. I believe to this day that the transporting from facility to facility killed... (more)

Our oldest son was diagnosed at 4 1/2 as a high-functioning autistic. We were told that if we provided appropriate, medically necessary therapies--speech and occupational therapy, to develop David's motor skills, ability to handle complex speech and ability to correctly read basic social cues--his autism would no longer impede his chances of having a rewarding, fulfilling and generally "normal" life as a teenager and an adult. David is very bright, with a lot of talents, and we had always dreamed of being able to send him to college.... (more)

Having lived in France for four of the last five years, I can speak from experience about the "horrors" of living under universal health care: Drug costs: I take three prescription drugs. The combined cost for these same drugs in the US is SIX TIMES higher than what I paid in France. Doctor's visits: My language teacher insisted I misunderstood her question when I told her that in the US doctors do not make house calls. In France, when you are sick with a cold or bronchitis, you call SOS-MEDCIN and A DOCTOR COMES TO YOUR HOUSE.... (more)

I don't understand what the insurance companies would have to do that they have not already done to injure us and to prove that 'for profit' health care just doesn't work. I was diagnosed with a condition that required, according to a specialist in that condition, an immediate operation which my health insurance denied me. I was told that if I did not get it soon the symptoms would be irreversible and potentially terminal. I had a great deal of medical documentation supporting the need for surgery, all of which was ignored and... (more)

I was in fifth grade when my older sister had her first mental breakdown. From that time on the life of my family changed forever. She jumped out a winder, took and overdose of pills, got married and divorced, has been in and out of mental hospitals, cannot hold a job. When she becomes ill she hears voices, goes into rages, spends enormous amounts of money. The real shame and tragedy of it is that she cannot get insurance. There are medications that could help but are completely unaffordable. My sister lives on SAMPLES from a city clinic in... (more)

I was diagnosed with cancer 19 months ago, and I am about to be unemployed. What will I do for health coverage? Will anyone hire me in the current job market? Canadians pay no more taxes than we do here in the U.S. .... and they are 100% covered for health care. These same Canadians have voted the man who designed their health care system as the greatest Canadian who ever lived! There's something wrong here in the U.S. ... and it's spelled PROFIT. Insurance companies take 31% of every medical care dollar. Please help us,... (more)

Our family is desperate for this bill to pass. My brother is 58 years old with many health issues including high cholesterol, heart disease, sleep apnea, and bi-polar disorder. He does not qualify for disability, has been unemployed for over a year, has not been able to find a job that includes health benefits, and he cannot find an insurance company that will insure him. His doctor's bills and prescription costs are through the roof and he cannot sustain this due to his limited savings. Please help us!

Our health care costs are so high that between premiums and deductibles we pay almost a third of my husband's salary. I do not have a healthcare plan through my work. When my husband went into the hospital for a suspected heart attack in March, the medical bills ate up every dollar we had, plus all of our tax refund -- all the money we needed for daycare for our three children over the summer. We had to take out a loan to care for our own children. This must stop. We are going into debt year after year just to pay for basic needs. We simply... (more)

I arrived in the US in 1991, I was 27 years old. I was born in France. I experienced both Europe and the US. Several years ago I became an American Citizen and it is the most exciting day of my life. I still can see my husband (who was born in the US) waiting for me outside the building where I received my Citizenship in Sacramento with a American flag and a rose! What I love about the US is the sense that anything is possible! It is still a young country, there are not as many barriers as there are in Europe. Europe can be cynical (been... (more)

I get the impression from many of those against a government nationwide health care system, that "they" think it can't happen to them. Oh, they are so wrong. My husband, Jim, and myself, worked in corporate white collar jobs most of our lives, making a combined income of $100K to $200K most years. We always had corporate benefits, and really never much thought about the cost of health care. Our insurance always took care of it. In 2001, when I was 51, I was layed off from my corporate job. In 2007, when my husband was 50,... (more)

On Sept. 11, 2006 my 8 year old son Andrew suffered the onset symptoms of a massive stroke. He was a normal, healthy child and at the hospital the doctors ran several tests and couldn't come up with a reason he was unresponsive. It took 2 days and FINALLY an MRI discovered a large blood clot in the artery that feeds the left side of his brain. At that point, there was nothing the doctors there could do for him there so they contacted a interventional neuro radiologist at the adult hospital across the street. (there are less than 300 of... (more)

I am a 50 year old, college educated, middle class woman, who has lived without health insurance for over 12 years. My father died of a heart attack at 52; so I am desperate for health insurance. My story is not one of extreme tragedy, but rather one of ongoing stress and fear, of a reduced quality of life and of clear recognition of impending ruin should I continue much longer without health insurance. I work for a nonprofit, which does not have the resources to provide health insurance. I have researched my options and cannot find a... (more)

I am a Family Physician who works in a community health center and I fully support this much needed change in the U.S. heath care system. I see approximately 60% uninsured patients and about 30% Medicare and Medicaid. The uninsured are causing so much stress on hospitals, clinics, and health care providers because there is just too much demand and too little supply. We do everything we can for our patients but we just don't have the resources we need to get them good care. We are getting more and more overwhelmed with new patients who... (more)

My husband and I are uninsured. We have worked all of our lives. My husband had 2 surgeries in 2 years and the medical bills nearly drove us into bankruptcy. He has been diagnosised with rheumatoid arthritis. I was diagnosised with hepatitis C last year. This disease is little known and affects millions of Americans. The treatment costs $50,000. There was no way I could afford this. We applied for financial aid, however, we made $2000 a year too much to qualify. Finally, someone took pity on me and suggested that if I would divorce my... (more)

All my life I've been healthy, but I started to get sick about four years ago for some un-diagnosable reason. Fourteen hospitals, 28 doctors could not figure out what was wrong. Many said that because I did not have health insurance they could not order more testing to find out what was wrong. And as my health detiorated, I was unable to work. So being unable to work and unable, subsequently, to achieve insurance, I nearly died many times as my situation spiraled. Eventually I was homeless, and stayed on the streets for two years until a... (more)

I am a single mom, my story is all too familiar. I could not afford health care for my children after my divorce so I rolled the dice and we were lucky. I have 3 children, all adults now, but 20 years ago when I divorced, they were all under 10 yrs old. I could barely afford food, the mortgage and basic needs. About 15 years ago I got them on the Virginia state program for kids, through a lottery system and tried to play catch up before we were disqualified because my meager income increases took us out of qualifying range. For many years I... (more)