Health care needs to be made affordable and available to all American citizens. It should not be only for the wealthy or those employed with large companies.

I am a small business owner & every year we get increases on the health care we provide for our employees. I have to make adjustments on their coverage & what they have to contribute. The wy things are going there is going to be a turning point were I will no longer be able to provide health care.

As self-employed small business owners, my husband and I are responsible for purchasing our own family health care policy. We have had the same policy since 2000 with Blue Shield. It covers our family of three healthy people with a $4800 (per person) deductible. Originally in 2000 this policy cost my family $450.00/quarter. In comarison, today we currently pay $2628.00/quarter.

I'm very fortunate in that I and my family all have access at affordable health care through our jobs. I am now retired; my health care is very expensive, but I am able to pay for it. My heart breaks for so many who are not so fortunate. I am recovering from major back surgery now. Thank God I had the best of care - I belong to Kaiser Permanente Health program - and my surgery was totally covered by my health plan. I wish every American had the same benefits.

I'm a 25 year old college graduate suffering from the effects of our current economic crisis. One of my only options has been to look for work abroad and try to make a living away from my friends and family. I lived in Korea as an ESL teacher and for that twenty months, my health insurance was fully covered. I'm back home again, struggling to find a job and asking my self "what should I do next?" My funds are low, employment opportunities are rare and a reasonable health care plan is nearly unattainable. I believe in health,... (more)

I was left without health insurance for 3 year when I lost my airline job in 2001. My wife had a pr existing condition which ended up being an incorrect diagnosis. Because of that I was unable to get health insurance. When I did have to use doctors during that time I found they were charging me three times the rate that Insured people payed.

My story is the same as millions of Americans, I am sure. I am on disability. I have Medicare. My prescription coverage is a joke. I spend @$5200.00 on meds alone per year. Medicare won't even pay a dime on one of my needed meds, Clonazepam. They have something called a "coverage gap" or "doughnut hole", which means that once the insurance carrier/Medicare has paid out $2500.00, I must pay full price. My choice of physicians in limited, as well as any counseling. Many therapists will not take Medicare at all. It... (more)

I am 55 years old and I face the typical health concerns of those in my age group. I lost my job in March. My health insurance premium was $438.00 a month for which my employer was paying half. After I got layed off, Kaiser Permanente raised my premium to $515.00 a month citing my age as the reason for the premium hike. I couldn't have afforded the former amount out of my unemployment benefit much less the latter. Now I have ZERO health insurance. If I have a serious illness or accident, my personal assets will be wiped out within a week.... (more)

I am a 66 year old man that get's medi-cal in Califonia I have a Disc in My Back that's touching my Spinal Cord and Could become Paralized at anytime if I fall or Bump Myself wrong, All I need and want is Therapy of some kind to help with the Pain But our Health Care will hardly Pay for My Pain Pills that will soon wreck My Liver, All I want is to try and live a Healthy Life is that asking to Much?? Becouse I don't have Money doe's that mean I can't get any kind of help?? and only the people with Money can be Healthy and have good Doctor's???... (more)

My wife and I had subscribed to a popular HMO here in California's big central valley for over 25 years. I was disabled on my job and was on my wife's policy for most of those years. In 2001 she had a stroke, grew worse and after much insistence was sent to a specialist who told her that she had Parkinson's Disease. Her neurologist prescribed drugs appropriate for Parkinson's. We later found out that she had Parkinsonism not Parkinson's Disease. First it was her left hand, then both hands, then her speech, then she was unable to move.

We have had to cut what we spend on food and utilities and gas and everyday expenses just so I can keep the high deductible health insurance I have. We are very close to not being able to pay this high fee every month as I will be turning 55 yrs old this summer and my premium will be going up again. I am self employed and have no employees. Every six months Anthem (Blue Cross) increases my premium. There is no alternative for people my age who need health care the most. And we stand to lose the most.

I have worked for 40 years and am looking forward to a modest retirement. However this may not be possible because my wife is disabled and I won't be able to afford insurance after I retire nor could I afford her perscriptions one of which is $1500 each month. Please! We need a single payer system.

As Executive Director for a social service agency in the San Joaquin Valley, we deal with the problems of inadequate health care every day. Part of my staff do in home visits to help children and their parentswho have economic, language, and other obstacles prepare for kindergarten and be ready as those more fortunate. As part of those visits we also observe health barriers and try to get them resolved. One story in particular sticks out as told to me by my worker. She paid her first visit to a mother and child and noticed that he was having... (more)

Thanks god so far I do not have a health problem, but this is not about me, we are all brothers and sisters and Americans, the richest country on the earth can not provide health care to its people? raise the gas price to pay for it and go for it, most European country pay for the health care by higher gas prices.

As a Mother who has lost her 17 year old son to Cancer 7 months ago and as a small business owner strugling to provide my family and employees with basic health care insurance I am extremely interested in health care reform NOW.

Health care insurance has long been a concern for my family. I can tell you about the time 25 years ago when our daughter was born and we did not have maternity insurance and had to struggle to pay the medical bills. And how seven years later, still with no maternity insurance, I miscarried at five months-- I feel, due to the fact that I was so stressed over the lack of maternity coverage and worried as to how we would pay the bills, again. I can also tell you how my husband went undiagnosed and untreated for a mental condition for over 20... (more)

I am a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM) who has deliverd health care to infants. women and children (maternal-child healthcare) for over 35 years. The current health care system poorly utilizes the potential of nurse-midwifery to improve maternal-child healthcare in this country instead prioritizing physicians to provide OB-GYN care. This is a strategic health care planning error and needs to be corrected.The United States has poor morbidity and mortality statistics for such an economically developed country. In countries with the best... (more)

I'm a registered nurse who works for a home health agency associated with a large hospital in Fresno, Ca. Every day I go see patients in their homes, most of whom cannot afford the medicines they truly need. I frequently see patients who have to choose between paying for their medicine or paying for food or electricity. Most opt to not get their prescriptions refilled on time. The end result is they end up back in the hospital with an exacerbation of their medical problem and their insurance company, which usually is Medicare or Medi-Cal, just... (more)

My story is, Thank goodness we have health care. I cannot imagine not. My husband, mother, father, sister, mother-in-law and father-in -law have all had very expensive surgeries and illnesses. I have no idea how they would have managed to pay for their care and the worry and stress that would have ensued, or they would have needed to forgo treatment. How devistating that would have been.

Almost every one I know has one or more of the problems listed below! ! !The american people have been told by the HMO's, Insurance Companies and, Pharmaceutical companies (all) for 30 years they are going to fix the problems. None of them have kept their promise! We need single payer health care systems that work at least as well as the only one we have had, namely Medicare so, please do all you can to see that, as you so often said in your campaign speeches, I am for a single payer solution. Please don't cave in to the money people who I... (more)