My wife and I have a 26 year old son who has suffered from ADHD since early childhood. His condition has made it very difficult for him to learn and to find a job other than part time work mostly in the fast food industry. He and his girl friend now have a 16 month old son. Neither our son, his girl friend or our grandson have health insurance. The baby and his mother are covered by the W.I.C. program in Illinois but when he gets sick we must take him to a doctor located in Marion, Illinois which is a 110 to 120 mile round trip away from... (more)

I work in the part C of IDEA in KY. I have seen families not take advantage of the program b/c of high deductible. I have seen families declare bankruptcy b/c they have a child that has maxed out their insurane.

Build on a delivery system we already have; H.R. 676 simply calls for the expansion and improvement of the current and extremely successful Medicare system, widely recognized as one of the most cost efficient medical management systems in the world, to be upgraded and expanded to include all Americans rather than just those over age 65. Incremental reforms have consistently failed for more than three decades. Incremental reforms cannot garner administrative savings and redirect them to care. Everybody in, nobody out! HR 676 will be a big win... (more)

My husband was laid off from his job in late summer, 2008. We lost our health insurance immediately. We have a 2 year old son who is now receiving only decent (at best) healthcare from the local health department. He is just a number, not a patient. The medical professionals have far too many patients to answer any questions we have regarding his health and development. In addition, I have a condition called Achalasia which prevents my esophagus from functioning properly. Before I was diagnosed, I lost 72 lbs. in 4 months and my hair... (more)

The importance of health care is very vital to people who just live with in there budget. Let me give you an example: When we have full coverage on our family " in which we don't have full coverage because we can not afford family insurance due to the high expense it gives us, we wouldn't beable to put food on our table if we did, so we cut myself off the plan". Well any way when we were paying for full coverage this is how it works, say i go to the hospital for emergency well the cost for co-pay is 100 dollars, he have to see... (more)

I work as a paralegal for an attorney who handles Social Security disability claims. Day in and day out we deal with very sick people, struggling not to lose everything they have while they make it through the maze of Social Security rules and regulations. It's a long process, more than a year in most cases. We lose clients before we make it to the administrative law judge. But the saddest and most frustrating thing is that many of our clients would not have to be completely disabled if they had been able to afford preventative health care.... (more)

Both my husband and I are self-employed. We need more options for affordable healthcare for small business owners and self-employed individuals like us!

I am battling cancer right now. Because of the amount of time I had to take off work, I was fired. My insurance was canceled. I was offered Cobra. The cost is unbelievable. I am fortunate that my husband's work insurance covers me. It doesn't cover as much as mine. He should be retiring this year. He's turning 65. We cannot afford insurance for me if he does.

dear mr. president, health care cost must come down, i,m on social security but, my kids and their kids need to know that they can get care when they need to. i,m 71 years old and i think you are the smartest, most awsome president in my lifetime and honored to have lived with you in office,go get um, sir!!!

My husband had a catastrophic accident last year and is now quadraplegic, his hospital bills totaled over a million dollars for the year he was in various hospitals , he is home now and in order for him to have any healthcare, we are paying over 500.00 a month just for his premium under cobra, we will have to have it extended and it will soon go to 750.00 per month for him, we live on social security disability now and have 2 children in school, I am his only caregiver and I cannot afford to have any kind of insurance on myself or our children... (more)

Mr. President Sir, I am a single mother, with two college-going children, and making $10.00 an hour. I am also currently a University of Phoenix Online Health Care student. Health Care insurance is impossible for me because I cannot afford the premiums. I work for a construction company that offers no benefits. Within the past four months, I had a dental surgery, a tooth extraction and a surgical removal of a lesion on my eyelid, all of which I paid from my own pocket, since I have no insurance. I decided to go back to school to study... (more)

I have a 35 year old child with out health care she has Bipolar Disorder she cannot work and it has causer her to loose her child be homeless and many other thinks. Thur Mentalhealth she can get her meds but olny see a Dr. once every 6 to 8 weeks. She can not see a Dr. for health or Dental prombles and must live with someone. SSI has denial her and she is trying to apple that untill that happens she has no options. There ar 1,000 of people like her out there are we going to let them just exsest and have no quily of life or we as a nations... (more)

Four years ago, at the age of 47, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. My husband's company shops out for insurance every year, and changed plans in 2006. Although we pay our premiums, this insurance essentially covers nothing until we meet out deductible of $5000 an individual. They have refused to pay my annual mammogram each year. Recently, I had to quit my job in order to care for my elderly father. Because of the financial stress of my medical debt and my insurance company's refusal to pay, I have bills being sent on to collections and... (more)

I have been uninsured for more then three years. I am a wife and mother of six (6) who runs her own small business. My business and health are now failing because I am overworked and underpaid. Sounds like I work for a company..huh? The economy hit my business. I was paying for office visits every other month for my basic medicine that I could afford, however there were several prescriptions that I could not afford even with pharmacies claiming to have the $4.00 a month prescriptions mine always seemed to be, "not under the plan". In... (more)

Hello! My name is Robin Steele, a commercial electrician currently laid off. My wife Brenda is a Special Education Kindergarten teacher and a cancer survivor, and our 22 year old son Joey is a senior in college and has Cystic Fibrosis. Brenda and Joey, after years of inadequate or no health insurance coverage, finally have good coverage through Brenda's state employment. I have no coverage because it is too expensive to add me to the policy (approx. $450 monthly). Here is one example of extreme waste which keeps health care costs too... (more)

I am all for health care reform due to high cost. I have been a Home Health nurse for 12 yrs. and have seen the great benefits of home care. I understand Barak is cutting 13.1 billion from Home Care. Not only will it affect my job but our patients will loose a whole lot more. Home Health care has reduce the no. of days hospitalized and sometimes prevented hospitalization all together. We service a great part of rural areas that have no access to care only through home care. Thank you. Barbara Drain

I am 63 and receive Social Security Disability because I had to leave work due to Rheumatoid Arthritis. My husband has also been on Social Security Disability because of permanent effects of a stroke in 2000 and degenerative disc disease. He turned 66 this month and is now on regular Social Security. Thankfully we have drug bnefits thru his retirement with AT&T. However, the co-pays raise yearly, the non-generic drugs we must take have a $50.00 co-pay, generic are $15.00. I take 12 different medications every day. My husband takes 2.... (more)

I have been a cancer patient since 1990, and I have spent thousands of dollars on health care. I have written check after check to one doctor after another because my insurance would not pay all the bills. I was only 36 years old when diagnosed with cancer. I am glad I have survived, but no one knows when this can strike again. I have had to fight for bills to be paid when there was not much energy to even get through the day. We should not have to worry about bill collectors, collection agency, and even hospital/doctors writing or... (more)

I can't read anymore of these stories...It is just to sad...I went into nursing because I dreamed that I could help others....I learned very quickly that I couldn't....The field is full of egomaniacs that only want to be seen as gods and heroes not people who really care about others....after experiencing much racism and discrimination I have given up on America and its healthcare system....I am sure I will die like most middle aged adults do lately...In my bed of a heart attack with no health insurance and broke from medical bills.

My story is simple, and average. It reflects my experience as a young everyday working American. I do not have health insurance because my employer does not offer it. In order to receive health insurance, I would have to pay what is nearly equal to my mortgage, and I would still have co-pays and a large deductible to contend with. Not to mention, I would not get coverage for the medical services that I really need, like coverage for chronic injuries that I have, which would be categorized as pre-existing conditions; or birth control. I am... (more)