Our story isn't all that tragic at the moment...just typical. Our costs are too high, our care is lacking and insufficient, and the little extra that we saw in our pay checks, IS BEING USED TO PAY FOR THE INCREASE IN OUR MONTHLY PREMIUMS! (The two just happened to take place about the same time). So we basically take the increase due to the adjusted witholding tax and hand it over to the insurance companies. Help!

I am 26 years old; young! Each month, on top of my insurance premiums, I have to pay $140 to have 3 prescriptions filled. There are no generics for these prescriptions, and similiar drugs have not had the same results. Each year, the copay on my prescription medicines has gone up. Each year, at least $3000 of my $37000 salary is spent JUST on insurance/medication. My boyfriend is self-employeed, and it almost does not seem worth it for him to carry health insurance because the costs are insanely high for the little coverage they give you. ... (more)

Single payer, medicare for all is the only fair way.

I am unable under my current plan to pick the doctor I'd like to see and have my so-called health care benefits apply because they are either not on my insurer's PPO list, or they have opted out of participation with health care insurers altogether so I have to pay and then try to get reimbursed by the insurance company myself. Having just had to utilize my health insurance for recommended procedures, it is nearly impossible to predict what I will have to pay out of pocket and how much of that will be paid for by my insurance. I recently had... (more)

I have a friend who went to India for open heart surgery because it cost less in India for the tests, airfare, six weeks stay for him and his wife and the surgery then the tests cost in the States... my friend is a small businessman and is uninsured! He came through great and recommends it to others!!

My daughter can not afford to include her whole family on her school teacher's salary.. even so when the provider makes a billing error instead of following the insurance company's instructions m daughter is held responsible and has to pay what should have been paid by the insurer all because the hospital billed the baby's care under the baby's name and not the mother's....this system is obscene.

I do not have health insurance, I do not want health insurance. I want to be able to spend my money on good food and pure water as well as other alternative health care modalities, such as massage Accupuncture, Herbal medicine. I would like afordable emergency care in the event of an accident. Other countries do it why shouldent we learn from them. Right now I am caring for an 95 year old aunt that is bedridden but wants to live in her own home till she dies. unless she is on hospice there are no visiting nurses that can attend to her if... (more)

My husband and I are fortunate to have good insurance through the college where he taught. Our son, however, age 27, cannot get ANY kind of health insurance in Florida, because of an accident he had 10 years ago. I taught HeadStart a few years ago, and the MAJOR issue of most of the parents was that they could not get quality healthcare for their children, especially if the parent had a job, and was ineligible for Medicaid. A friend of mine recently had surgery for cancer and did not have insurance. Though friends in the community pulled... (more)

Being self employed for the past 21 years, I do not have health insurance. The one time I did have coverage, when I had to have a small procedure done, the insurance company did not even allow me to fulfill the deductible, much less pay for any treatment. I dropped it when the rates went up and basically am holding my breath until I turn 65. With the economy right now I am just holding my own and am unable to budget in any doctors visits or checkups, including dental. Something needs to be done about health care and has needed to be done... (more)

I have paid for my own health insurance for the last ten years because I am a theatre arts manager and very few arts organizations offer insurance. I am 48 years old, and last month I had to stop paying for my health insurance because the premiums are so high and the insurance covers so little. For the first time in my adult life--I am not covered. I work two jobs. I live in the most progressive and advanced country in the world. I should have access to high quality and affordable health care.

I am a retired teacher on Medicare, with supplemental and Part D insurance through Emeriti, which uses Aetna. I am grateful to be covered in a way that encourages wellness, and would wish that all Americans could be covered also. Choice would not be an issue if there were a single payer system, and some power over drug prices.

I have watched poor people in hospital ERs in great pain. They sit for hours hoping someone would help. These are people who cannpt afford health insurence. It is the sick in hospitals that are paying for their care if they eventually get it.

MY wife and I pay $15,000 a year for health insurance. She has arthritus that has necessitated two knee replacement, and is not done. I have a cronic liver infection that will probably lead to cancer, but we cannot stop for treatment because then we cannot afford the insurance premiums.

I am on medicare ... and I STILL have to choose between food and medical care. An hour's visit to my doctor cost $510.00!!! Who can pay fees like these? Even WITH medicare. We need nationalized medical care!!! Linda Kerth

27 years ago when I was graduating from college I was diagnosed with stage 4 lymphoma. If my particular doctors had not had the contacts to get my cancer care covered by a grant program, I would be dead, because without lots of insurance or assets, which people do not have when graduating from school, quality affordable health care was not, and still is not, available. I am now an attorney whose physician has recently ordered a digital mamogram or MRI due to anomolies. The test is not covered by my insurance with a high deductible, which is... (more)

I grew up in Europe and know the value of single payer. I get decent coverage at work but my wife and I still have to fight the insurance companies to get paid. It's worng and I want access to Medicare. It's about time President Obama did something for we the people and not the goddamned banks and insurance companies. I voted twice for him but if he fluffs this one I'm not voting again. Or contributing.

As a hospital auditor, I urged the hospital I worked for to cut its prices by 50%. It would have made little impact on the hospital's revenue, since the hospital routinely gave insurance companies discounts of over 50%. However, the hospital was hesitant to break with the crowd, and was worried that Medicare would cut its payments as a result of the reduced pricing structure. Government could require healthcare providers to charge one price (per procedure, room, or group of procedures) to everyone, and to publish its price. Medicare should... (more)

My daughter and her husband and 2 children have had no health care insurance for the past 10 years. They can't afford it and are told that they have a little too much income to qualify for any social programs. They have no savings and no safety net.

Dear President Obama and Members of Congress, For most of my life I’ve been a struggling single mother who finally completed her college education at age forty, graduating with a B.S. degree in environmental science / education, with top honors. I’m now 59 and have been unemployed for 6 months with no job prospects that will support my mortgage and health care needs. Like you, Mr. President, my mother also died of ovarian cancer; my father died of throat cancer. My partner of ten years died of a sudden heart attack at age 53 five... (more)

Dear Mr. President and Staff, Two years ago the neighbor of my brother, who was a wife and mother without healthcare, went to the emergency room for an ear infection but could not afford to wait. A few days later she died from the easily treatable ear infection. I am willing to work on behalf of silent individuals like her. Please remember all those people that came out for the first time to vote for you, who are otherwise overlooked and unheard. We owe it to them to stay strong in our support for a public option. They may not show up in... (more)