We are fortunate for having worked in an industry that provides a very good health care program for employees and retirees. However many of our friends down here (we live close to the Mexican border) are forced to cross the border for their medical and dental treatment and prescriptions because they are not covered by plans in the US. This being a rural area, many people who are covered by HMO's find severe restrctions put on their care, or have them canceled altogether. Another problem is the risng care of malpractice insurance for doctors... (more)

My younger brother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder some years ago. He lives in Maine, 3,000 miles away from me. He lives on SSI and depends on the state available healthcare. He has a very complicated medical history; yet, at the clinic he must attend, he never sees the same doctor twice. He is restricted to sub-par health care because of his financial status, but feels he is lucky to have health care at all. This is not the way our citizens, my baby brother, should live. It is not.

Health care insurance is the single highest expense for my husband and I. It costs more than food, more than the mortgage. Even after we pay a combined $934.00 a month we still each have a $200.00 deductible per year. We feel lucky to have insurance because we both have some medical issues that would make it impossible to qualify if we had to get new medical insurance.

Health care horror story! My Cobra policy ran out and in the meantime I applied for health insurance. I was within the 63 days to apply and receive coverage. The company waited 65 days and then denied me coverage. Once one company denies coverage they all do! I was turned down by two more companies. I took out a catastrophic policy to cover me for big things until my husband could put me on his policy. For a year we paid over 1,000.00 a month to get coverage for me. My husband teaches school and I am self-employed after retiring from the... (more)

My insurance premiums are at an all time high. And I am one of the lucky ones who pays for her premiums through her spouses employment program. Fortunately I am healthy and rarely see a doctor. Last year I required a one-time test that used to be covered without anything but a $20 copay, it cost me $1500 over and above the premiums I am paying. Still I am lucky because I could afford that. What will happen when my husband retires in two years, one year before he turns 65 and 6 years before I am eligible for Medicare? I have Diabetes Type... (more)

My state (Arizona) had a premium sharing program which I subscribed to. While I was in treatment the program was canceled because of budget concerns. I finished my cancer treatments but because I had no insurance I was never able to do follow ups and have checkups. No insurance company would except me because of my cancer. Until I started on Medicare (I am 65 now) I had no insurance for 5 years and I found it impossible to even do monthly self exams as I was so afraid If I found any lumps that there was no way I could pay for any treatment.... (more)

I got a call just tonight from my daughter who has a medical problem that needs immediate attention. The problem is that she doesn't have health coverage and she doesn't want to go to the ER because she can't afford the large expense that would cost. She is a single mom, working 2 part-time jobs and is in the "system"; however, somehow her AZ state health coverage has lapsed. She went to the Dept. of Economic Security today, but they were too busy to spend the time with her to fill out the required forms to continue her aide. ... (more)

Years ago when i turned 18 and no longer was able to be on a parent's health policy, I was on my own. Unable to afford to pay the premiums to cover myself (almost as much as the rent of my apartment) I was left uninsured for most of my young adult life. Only after becoming employed by a larger company was I finally covered (many years later.) During those years I felt like I was gambling and praying that nothing went wrong as there was no way I'd ever be able to pay for it. Later, as an employer of about 15 employees myself, I was... (more)

When I took my AZ state teacher retirement,I signed up for the health insurance offered with it. I soon realized I would be paying that insurance co. every penny of my pension check not used for my rent--and I still would not get health care for even basic needs. There is diabetes on both sides of my family, and glaucoma. My mother has glaucoma. Because of this, I was having regular check-ups by an opthamologist. Just before I retired, he had detected a sign I might be developing a rare kind of gluacoma, and had reqested I see him every 6... (more)

I paid premiums to private insurers for more than 4 decades and needed only minimal services during that time. After retiring early, I found it extremely difficult to get any coverage at any price due to having osteoporosis. Shortly after going on Medicare, I was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect that required open heart surgery. Of course the expenses for that fell on Medicare and my supplementary provider. Would it not have made more sense for Medicare to have been collecting the premiums I paid over the years to put into a pool that... (more)

My own story is that there is no choice for natural health care. I want to make my own choice of health care that does not necessarily include the use of drugs or the American Medical Associations belief in their methods of healing that do not work for me.Health care should include all of the many natural methods as a choice. I see that the AMA has a monopoly in the health care sector and this should not be.

What other civilized country still has health care of it's citizens remain a major industry i that country ? I don't feel good health care should be available only to those who can afford it. Two people can enter a hospital with the exact same problem and the quality each receives is totally dependent upon each patient's income and health care insurance program they are shown to have. In their own way each citizen's contribution to our society could be as valid as the other's only one considered some type of executive and the other an... (more)

I worked in the Cuomo Administration in New York, as a deputy for policy in the NYS Department of Health from 1988 to 1990. We tried valiantly to put a good plan on the national agenda, should the Governor have chosen to run for president. This is the most important issue America faces. If we can achieve health care for all we will change forever the dynamics of national politics. This is why opposition to reform is so enduring, even among some Democrats.

I don't have a personal story--jost a stong moral belief that all Americans shoud have sufficient health care. There is no excuse for a wounded veteran coming home from a war to receive less than the best health care this country can provide.

I'm the GM of one of this small area's more significant businesses. In 2004, the year my first child was born, my health care costs skyrocketed to the same levels as my mortgage --even with the company paying 50% of my own share of that bill. Adding health insurance costs to buying a home, well over 50% of my income disappeared. Throwing in taxes, utilities, food and clothing, I had and still have precious little left to save for retirement or even a college education fund for my child. Though it would have been acceptable with... (more)

Have been in need of healthcare for over a year but could not afford setting/splinting of 3 broken bones in left elbow, wrist and hand because the costs would exceed my monthly SSA Retirements benefit and I would not be able to continue paying mortgage on house, pay utility bills, insurances, or food for me and my dogs [guide dogs] and kitty [service cat] so I had to splint my own bones and get on with life. Then, had terrible problems with my legs, necessitating medical intervention. Had already quit most of my prescribed medicines for could... (more)

I'm in a rural area. Health care is expensive and scarce. Previously, the President supported the single payer option. What changed? Current health care providers and lobbyists cannot be trusted. You need to talk to people without a conflict of interest. Bill Moyer's 5/22/09 "Journal" on PBS included some very intelligent conversation on the subject by knowledgeable non-providers.

I have a chronic condition, scoliosis and spinal stenosis. Fortunately, I am employed as a high school English teacher, and I have insurance, but too many are not as fortunate, and if I became unable to work, my options would be very limited. It isn't right that the leading nation in the world has, up to this point, refused to get rid of this failed system in its entirety and craft a new system, learning from our enlightened allies what works and what does not. I support a single payer system, and I support the end of the insurance companies... (more)

I am a physician with no health insurance. I am a healthy middle-aged female with no chronic medical issues and take no medications. The health insurance I am offered is so expensive for someone who only requires regular preventive check-ups, I cannot afford it. No wonder so many are voicing their lack of support for the current US health market (rather than a much needed national healthcare system) with their pocketbooks by refusing to participate in such a rotten deal for consumers.

I am 57 years old and get my insurance through my husband's job since I am self-employed. Right now I pay about $4000 a year for my premiums, but I have noticed that many things once covered by a co-pay, now require extra money from us, to the tune of $5000 last year. I have Diabetes Type II that is completely controlled by diet. My tests have all been stable for years because I have done what I could with diet and exercise. But I know that once my husband retires, I will not be covered for diabetes under any new plan because it will be a... (more)