My son has health care through my insurance policy until he is 23 as long as he is a full time student. Each semester the schools he attends must provide a certification as to his status. He attends two different colleges. He recently broke his ankle. The cost of that so far is about $15,000. He has one more year of eligibility. He cannot be without insurance. This was a huge wake up call.

I pay about $14,000 dollars anually for health coverage for my family of four. That is not much less than one my sisters earns in each year. Her husband just under went triple by pass surgery 3 weeks ago. The hospital bill alone is over $60,000 and he has not yet received the bill from the various doctors that were involved in the operation. The total cost is expected to be over $100,000. Because he does not earn much money, and is uninsured, he has been advised to file for bankruptcy. Now the hospital and doctors will absorb the cost... (more)

To whom it may concern, This is a long story, but here it goes. In I think it was the year 2001, I had a back injury at work resulting in the beginning of disc degeneration. I had two different doctors in 2003 who conveniently missed two damaged discs in my back, discovered by two other doctors who were honest and forthright in their diagnoses, spotting the additional injury above and beyond the back injury occurring in 2001. Bottom line, because of the cost associated with this type of injury, the company I worked for attempted to get... (more)

I retired two years ago. At the beginning of each of those two years, my health insurance premium has increased by $150 per month for a total of $300 - quite an increase. At this rate, I'll soon be back looking for a job. This is a sad thing when you thought you had financially prepared for retirement.

My mother passed away ten years ago. We moved her to Anchorage to care for her when we noticed dementia. We could not get a primary care doctor to care for her at that time because medicare was not compensating doctors at a fair rate at that time. This situation has worsened considerably in the past ten years. My mother-in-law's doctor treated her for free because she was a WW 11 vet and officer in the army nurse corps. He said he was not compensated adequately and it cost more to try to get paid than to just treat her. Being a proud person... (more)

The medical insurance that I can afford has a $7500 deductible, which means I can pay for the catastrophic coverage, but I am not able to pay for a doctor visit, even when I am sick.

In Alaska we have many differing groups from the Alaskan Native Tribes, the military and the Vets along with the rest of Alaska and need a good system in place to serve all these groups.

My nephew has worked for the same construction company for 11 years. All without health coverage. He has two girls, 9 and 2 years old, all without health coverage of any kind. Should he be injured and require medical care the family income stops and his only choice is to go to the emergency room to recieve care.

When my husband retired we were unable to pay for my individual health insurance. It was so expensive, either we bought groceries or bought insurance. My husband is on Medicare and we pay for his supplemental insurance, but cannot afford to purchase insurance for me. I have a "pre-existing" condition of hypertension, therefore my premium is exorbitant, and impossible for us to pay. I'm 60, we could lose everything we've worked for all our life if I became ill. I have 5 more years before I'm eligible for Medicare. I hope I can make... (more)

We are a middle class family that should be able to keep our heads above water. Our largest struggle is Medical costs. The sad story is we are one of lucky few that have Medical Insurance.(Horrible Dental Plan) But we still get hit with huge bills on what our Insurance company does not cover. I could not imagine living without medical insurance, it would put us in the poor house. Even with the high cost that we already pay it is hard to cover the extra costs that we do get hit with when we need things out side of our coverage plan. I do... (more)

I have friends in Big Lake, Alaska who do not have health insurance, so they only get medical care when in dire need. This is not healthy. America can do better than that.

I'm 61 years old. hard worker, tax payer and I can't afford to see a doc, cause the cost is out of my budget, every time I heard, after 50 get this exams or ask your doctor if you have a question, I say to myself yeah, I'll ask my doctor if I've a lot of money. Good medicine, Doctors, and health prevention is only for a people who has money or are very poor and qualify for a public assistant, but for people of middle class like me is a joke. I remember when Bill Clinton promised a health care for all Americans, then nothing happened. I vote... (more)

I am a small business owner who supplies health insurance for "key" employees. Premiums increase every year 20-40%. Every year I have to make the deductable larger to afford the premium. Small employers do not have the means to administer (time and funds) health insurance plans. I am in favor of the people dealing directly with the government to access thier health care needs and options like they do in european countrys or Canada. Linking health care responsibility to employers was an arbitrary choice sometime in the FDR era that... (more)

just to have a exam on our teeth im mean just to look at nothing more cost $260 with some i have had. and are children deserve better. when are we gonna stand for oneself.

I am 32 years old and I can't get health care to cover my hearing impairment. Anybody can get glasses and vision check-ups, but I can't get audiology services until I am eligible for Medicare or Medicaid. In additon to this, last summer I was in Canada and ended up in an emergency room in Alberta. I got better, faster, cheaper care--by half--than the same services in Alaska would have been under my insurance plan. This is rediculous. We can afford to spend billions on bombs to drop on Iraq, Afghanistan, and possibly Iran, but we can't... (more)

I am more fortunate than many. I have Medicare and a secondary insurance provider via the Alaska Teamsters..the out-of-pocket costs are high per year but at least I do not face bankruptcy if something catastrophic should occur. No citizen of the United States of America should be without adequate health coverage for themselves or their children, at a reasonable cost, anything else is totally unacceptable.

I am blessed with affordable and available health care. I have medicare and tricare for life. Medicare coverage improvement made my life even easier when they approved to pay for my cathers every month. So as for myself and my husband, we have been lucky to have good coverage we can afford. But that is not enough, for there are so many Americans without the benefits we have. That is why we find it so very important to reform our health care system. I have friends and family that choose not to get treatment, because so much of it comes... (more)

Please pass a real national health care program so that I and my wife no longer pay 1600. dollars each month.

Cost, coverage, choice. I will spend more than a half million dollars in my life for health insurance for my son (12) and myself (51). We are both in perfect health, eat nutritiously, do not engage in unhealthy behaviors, and have never been in the hospital. We have neither dental nor optical care. Our high deductible is never met in a year. We do acupuncture, massage, and homeopathic to keep ourselves healthy, none of which are covered. One size does not fit all; this is not serving me or my son. This health insurance is an unused, very... (more)

Dear President Obama: I'm one of the fortunate Americans who has a job offering health care benefits. However, I opted out of my employer's health care plan because my monthly copay was too high. The dilemma was: pay the mortgage or pay the copay. Fortunately I'm in good health. Fortunately, also, my employer is embarking on a different approach this fiscal year. Everyone pays $50/month in health care premiums. It's deducted from our paycheck. Everyone gets health care. I hope it works for us. If it works for us, it can work... (more)