I'm a very small business woman - a one person shop. I do human resources consulting and I'm an event planner/fundraiser for a local walk to raise money to combat Huntington's Disease. I am healthy, active and 56 years old. With the economy in the tank, ALL, and I do mean all, of the money I earned last year, and all of the money I'll earn this year goes to my insurance premiums and co-payments. My husband (who is on Medicare) and I got back $5,000 in combined federal and state income taxes. $3,000 of it went to pay medical bills. The... (more)

Someday we will realize that we are only a healthy as our neighbors and communities. Quality, affordable healthcare for everyone makes us all stronger.

Mr. President and Mr. Vice President: I am a working mother and clergy in the Episcopal Church. Ordained to the sacred order of deacons, an order for the 'working person' and one that often times does not pay, I've worked as a legal secretary to support my family. I was laid off from my secular job as a legal secretary in March. My health care benefits lapsed, and as of today, I'm still looking for work. People don't believe or can't understand why this is happening to someone like me, a professional career woman, clergy, and the mother... (more)

I have always believed in a positive work ethic, however, working hard does not mean having easy access to health care. Less employers are offering benefits for employees. When I tried to get health insurance on my own, I was denied because I admitted to a previous condition of "depression". It seems like a hopeless situation, I am willing to buy a service but am refused.

I am a small business owner and I am suffering under the costs of paying my individual health care bill. The coverage I do get is inadequate and cost prohibitive with a very large deductible. I recently saw a PBS special on health coverage in other countries and outright cried.

My partner is 63 years old. He has a PhD and 3 masters degrees but is not eligible for medicare and has no health insurance. Why? Because he has spent 40 years as a Jesuit priest working in Central America. He left the priesthood for 3 intertwined reasons: his own desire to not continue to enjoy male privilege, his love for me, and his commitment to care for his 60 year old special needs brother, now that his parents have died. My one fear has been health care...how will we get a provider to take him on, how will we make payments...yes he... (more)

My fiance has no health care because she's unemployed. We're terrified that something might go wrong. My father had an allergic reaction to the sedatives doctors used on him for heart surgery, which kept him bedridden for 4 weeks. His HMO refused to pay for his rehabilitation stay until my aunt, a nurse, talked to his primary care physician about a court case. If it wasn't for her, my dad would still be limping along in an old folks' home.

I had to wait until I was 65 to get high-quality affordable health care. Though I am a privileged middle-class White woman, my insurance costs, for barely adequate care, increased astronomically after 50. Were it not for Medicare, I would be among the ranks of the uninsured. Marcia Freedman 71 and still healthy thanks to Medicare.

i only recently have had health care due to my job.

This is not about me, it is about my mother. She owns and operates two businesses in a small town in Wyoming and cannot afford health insurance, no retirement, and no savings. She owns her house because I paid it off so she wouldn't have to move. She has had cancer three times, and is now at an age where everything is falling apart. How does a hard working woman get a break? She's worker her whole life helping others, and the rich keep getting richer, while the poor just eat dirt.

The price of our health insurance is ruining us, we're spending more than we make. Because of my pre existing condition, i'm not eligible to change to something better.

I am one of few privileged today; I have an HMO/Medicare for my wife (we are a same sex couple)and myself. But tomorrow that could all change and where would we be as we face the most expensive years of our lives medically speaking? I have many marginalized friends who struggle with dental care, food on the table, waits with the doctor if they can afford it at all (sometimes groceries or gas takes all the monies), sometimes they have had to RAM their house so they will soon have no recourse in the constant rationing of medical care costs. ... (more)

SINGLE PAYER SYSTEM UNIVERSAL HEALTH COVERAGE PLEASE PUT THIS ON THE TABLE NOW! THE AMERICAN PEOPLE NEED YOUR HELP!!!!! I'D RATHER PAY MORE TAXES THAN OVER $15,000/ YR JUST TO HAVE SOME COVERAGE - THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY CO-PAY OR EXTRAS!!!! WE ALL NEED IT AS FOLKS ARE LOSING JOBS & SECURITY.

I am a priest serving the Inclusive Celtic Church.My role is Canon Missioner Priest for human rights. I serve the homeless in the SF bay area. I have no medical or health insurance as i am an unpaid clergy person. My income comes through voice teaching part time. i work freelance to keep my schedule flexible for pastoral care and homeless initiatives.i cannot afford an independent policy. So I am uncovered medically as is my constituency~the homeless I serve. I am nearly sixty and take good care of myself but I am not young and those i work to... (more)

I am currently being treated for breast cancer. I am unemployed, however I'm covered by my husband's insurance. The premiums and deductibles are quite high and often I fore go medication or appointments because we simply can't afford them.

I am a nurse working in a county hospital; so many without insurance. I am also a full time student at UCSF in health policy and can barely afford my employer based insurance. My community is suffering, my family is suffering. It is time for real change. Stop trying to make the insurance industry feel secure and start working for your constituents.

Both my husband and I live on a stretched income, have a baby, and elderly parents. We hear horror stories from friends whose parents are losing their life's savings paying for extended home care, and have other friends who can't get their 17 year old child health care because of a "pre-existing condition" which turned out to just be one doctor's mis-diagnosis. We are lucky because we are both employed with health care, but frankly I think the current system is a frightening mess. Not only am I scared, I'm embarrassed. Given how... (more)

My wife and I (UC Berkeley faculty and Alameda County librarian) have had excellent health care with Kaiser Permanente for decades. Unfortunately that has not been the case for MANY of our friends and our son in Alaska who are self employed and have had to pay exorbitant premiums to get insurance.

I have diabetese II and I know the high cost of medication and medical services. It will be unhuman and cruel to deprive other citizen of the possibility to get medication and Doctor's supervision.

I'm an exceedingly healthy 27-year-old woman. I bike to work, I exercise regularly, I eat healthily, and I don't abuse any substances. Despite my health, I've just been denied a high deductible insurance policy. The insurer's reason for denial: HPV, a virus that affects nearly %80 of sexually active adults in the U.S. The fact that I was denied insurance because I have a relatively harmless virus that affects most American adults suggests to me that very few Americans have access to insurance and affordable healthcare.