Our family was without significant income for over a year. Fortunately we were able to enroll our three children in a state-sponsored health care program, but my husband and I had no health care during this period. If we had had any significant health problem we would have been financially devastated. A week-long hospitalization for our daughter cost over $20,000 and our share of the cost, $2000, was a challenge to pay, though we managed. WIthout coverage we do not seek preventive care or see a doctor when symptoms first appear. This... (more)

1. I know a woman who can never move from the state in which she lives, even though a warmer climate would be beneficial to her health, because she has a pre-existing condition that would prevent her from qualifying for a health insurance plan from another company, and her current health insurance plan only exists in the one state. 2. My older daughter is an actress trying to break into the movies, and she is unable to afford anything more than catastrophic health insurance. This results in her not following the recommended preventative... (more)

When I accepted a job 3 years ago, I decided to opt for individual insurance and not include my teenage daughter, because the monthly deduction from my paycheck would have been about $340 for a parent and child, rather than $30 for an individual. Luckily, she can be covered under her father's health insurance (I am divorced). Since that time, I have been diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes, in addition to the hypothyroidism and high cholesterol for which I have taken medication for more than a decade. Copay for my medications alone... (more)

I am a mother of two recent college graduates who no longer qualify for coverage on my health insurance. It is extremely difficult and expensive for them to find coverage, and many jobs and internships do not offer health care benefits. There needs to be protection for young people, at least against catastrophic health care costs.

My mother is retired and has been for 3 years now. She can not afford health insurance and has to pay out of pocket for her prescriptions as well as the office visit fees. It is extremely expensive, therefore, not allowing her to be treated as she should 95% of the time.

I am a Physician Assistant, and I believe that President Obama's efforts to reduce health care costs are paramount to eliminating expensive visits to Emergency Rooms. Working in ER's I have seen people who have no choice, but to check into an ER which extremely costly because they have no insurance. I expect that Physcian Assistants will play a strong role in reducing costs. Instead of a clinic supported by several physicians, utilizing PA's to support 1 or 2 physicians will reduce costs and provide excellent health care to citizens. The... (more)

My story follows so many other tragic story. My adult son was self employed with just 2-3 employees and could not afford the costs of individual or small group insurance. When he was married several years earlier he had back surgery and was covered by his wife's insurance. A year after the divorce he was no longer covered. He was under the impression that his back was still bothering him and he went to a physician as a private pay patient. As it turns out he had severe divirticultis and delayed going to the hospital because he had no... (more)

I'm a chiropractor who had a successful private practice for 8 yrs before I got sick. I had private health insurance, but never had to use it before. In June, 2006 I was diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening autoimmune disease--Wegener's Granulomatosis. It's incurable. Unlike diseases like cancer, there is no way to make a prognosis. It can be quiet, or flare up and become deadly at any time. It can do silent, irreversible damage, too. It requires taking harsh drugs that suppress the immune system. The disease and drugs can be quite... (more)

Dear President Obama, I strongly believe that the provision of healthcare to all Americans should not be an economic or political issue, but a "human issue", and a crucially important "national security issue". Issues that are critical to Americans in the most intrinsic sense, should not be handled in the marketplace. Healthcare and national security are not speculative commercial ventures. Within a year of instituting national healthcare plan, the total healthcare cost may drop to half its level as it stands today. In... (more)

Pre-existing condition Dependent health-care Limited choices not based on doctor experience/expertise

I am one of the fortunate ones who has health insurance through their job. My grown children, however struggle with this issue either because of being laid off or returning to school. We are able to help to some extent, but that is not the answer for us and millions of americans.

I suffer from Bipolarism (Manic Depression) and have long known that American Health Care costs, choice and quality lack the real impartiality and empathy to aid me in my continued care, especially during times of true, honest need. Making our American Health Care reflect the fair price, intelligent options and standard of quality that ALL PEOPLE in this Great Country deserve as Human Beings should be Top Priority for United States politicians and citizens alike— NO PERSON SHOULD BE EXCLUDED IN THE INTEREST OF... (more)

I went for years without health insurance because I couldn't afford it. Most of that time was working as a proofreader and editor, part-time, going to college. Then for several years I worked for the Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore, and you know we had a hard time getting insurance. We must all have AIDS, you know. Especially the lesbians. When I finally got a job with good benefits, it happened to be with the state government, the AIDS Administration! Now I'm very fortunate, I work for Montgomery County Public Schools as a... (more)

I don't have any health coverage as I am self-employed.

One of my relatives is completely disabled with an illness there is no cure. No insurance company would insure this person, even though we thought health insurance is mostly needed by the ill people. Our state provide insurance to those people who cannot get insurance any where else through a private insurance company. That cost is over $500 a month and this disabled person's total income is $1750 a month. There are numerous un paid out of pocket bills and every month they keep accumulating and bill collectors calling five six times a day.... (more)

the broken health care sytem in this country is benefiting the inssurrance companies and not the citizens so its time the reverse to take place now or health care will continue to be a nightmare for many US CITIZENS.

My personal story is about my brother and sister where a few years ago they did not have any. It cost them a great deal of money to get one. I am hopping that all Americans can afford and are able to be insured regardless of their situations at any given time.

No comments

My husband passed awaw in Febrary 2007. His condition was a complicated one. We could only afford HMO healthcare. I beleive wholeheartedly that if we could have afforded better healthcare his condition could have been rectified. I believe he was ALLOWED to die because we could not afford quality care. He was only 39 years old.

This is my dear friend's health care story. My friend Laura worked for many years without health insurance because her small business employers could not afford to offer it. Diane had worked in the independently owned coffeehouse business as a barista. When she started having internal pain, she did not have health insurance and so couldn't see a doctor. The pain got worse and she found an internal lump under her ribcage. But she still did not have health insurance. Finally, by the time her internal pain was practically... (more)