My wife and I are both former Management Consultants. In 2000, we returned to Ohio to start a family.
We were both involuntary participants of a series of layoffs at our respective firms. Our first son was due in June and as the date approached, I continued to pay into COBRA. After the delivery, all claims with regard to my wife's birth-related hospitalization were rejected.

After retaining a lawyer and personally investigating this further, I learned that the COBRA payments had been "absorbed" by the former executives at my firm. The insurance firm had supposedly not received a dime.

In 2008, my wife nearly died waiting to be seen at an ER - we were told she was breathing fine and would be seen in due course. What they did not know (nor did they apologize for) was that she was hemorrhaging internally and had already lost nearly half her blood.
While we ended up emerging from that series of events, I want to state in the strongest terms possible that we stand shoulder to shoulder with President Obama and his Universal healthcare plan and will do everything to ensure that it becomes reality.

Millions of families are living in poverty, with millions of others that are a split second away for losing their hard-earned middle-class dreams to join the ranks of the poor and the homeless. This status quo, while acceptable to insurance, healthcare executives and many members of the GOP is not acceptable to Americans.

We are a country and a people that always stood for something and that "something" was always for a common good. President Obama's message resonates with me daily - I spent 16 months working on his campaign in Ohio. The financial impact of that decision was hard to stomach, but the people won - our voices were heard.

As Americans we cannot simply stand by the wayside and let our families and children fall victim to a broken and corrupt health-care system. Count us in for the change we need President Obama.