I spent the greater part of my life living in the UK. My late wife contracted Breast Cancer with a very poor prognosis. We had excellent care including on call attendance 24/7 and 9 additional years together at no additional cost. If this had happened in the US it would have bankrupted my family. This should not be a country divided into the haves and the have not ts. Why should the insurance companies decide whether you can or cannot have treatment?

I recently sent a letter to President Obama about health care cost and my brother. I even encluded bills that were outrageous. Medicare is billed over and over even when the patient is no longer using supplies or survices.

I am in dire need of medical care and the free and low cost clinics in the area (Spartanburg, SC) are inundated with others like me. I need help and I'm counting on Congress, who by the way has a great health package at the expense of the American people,to recognize the backend of fighting for "party" rather than people. Stand togther. History has proven that democracies fail, due in part to the small few who make the rules and regulations forgetting how they got there and who depends on them.

My husband and I had good professional jobs and were laid off last year. The high cost of our health insurance is eating away at our savings at an alarming rate...and we are both healthy! I cannot imagine what will happen if one of is sick or injured.

Hi- My name is Julie and I am a victim of Reuhmatoid Arthritis. At the time, I was a health care employee and was working in surgery. I had no idea that I would someday be faced with having to go on disability. I had no idea that I would have to wait 2 long years, after I was told I could no longer work , to be able to have Medicare. I almost did not survive those 2 years , as I had no way to pay for medicines. Clinics could not disburse many of those medicines because of the phenomenal cost of those medicines, due to the drug manufacturing... (more)

As a professional in health philanthropy, I know that the health of United States citizens is much poorer than it should be given the large per capita health expenditures in this country. Why should life expectancy in the United States, the wealthiest country in the world, be similar to that in Cuba? Please involve Michael Marmot and the World Health Organization in your reform efforts. Costs are too high, insurance coverage immorally inadequate, and prevention too often ignored. I support health reform, and President Obama has my full... (more)

Last fall, I was laid off from my job as a radiologic technologist. For my family of three, we had to pay over $1100 a month to maintain our medical insurance(no dental or vision). Fortunately, after nine weeks of unemployment, I gained a position with a different hospital system. But we are still trying to get back on our feet and to replenish my retirement funds because we had to withdraw from that to cover COBRA costs. I feel for the people that go months and months without finding a job!

i had five back operation,now i have high blood pressure.

My story is about the medical community "Ending the Life" of loved ones at a certain point of their illness, then pretending this didn't happen. In 2004 I witnessed this to happen to my husband, tried to get justice, but I could not get anyone to prosecute this terrible death. I have been characterized as a person who does not think straight. We had quality health insurance, but the quality of the health care itself was lacking. As long as Blue Cross Blue Shield was the primary insurance carrier, my husband received excellent care,... (more)

I worked for SSA - ODAR (Social Security Disability) as a senior attorney for almost 30 years in the office which now has the highest backlog in the nation. In our area of the South, healthcare is nonexistant for people without insurance. As a result, medical problems which might be diagnosed and treated relatively routinely develop into debilitating diseases which lead to loss of ability to work, family disruption, economic devastation, and even homelessness. I actually quit my Federal job under the Bush administration because of my deep... (more)

I am a 65 year old woman. I have the typical aches and pains and need joint replacment, but that isn't my real concern. My monthly pharmacy bill is - My husband still works and so I have a cushion, but if he quits what do I do? My pharmacy bill runs between $800.00 and $1000.00 per month. Costs need to be contained and care or drug should not force elders to work forever.

I am a minister and regularly see the 25% of our county residents who live below the poverty level. As long as health care is a managed business, medical attention, or doctoring, will cease to be a profession. A third of our residents do not have health insurance - which mesns no non-emergent medical attention. The health of our poorest citizens, birth to old age, must become our priority. How can we create a layer of basic health care -- well child care, prenatal, geriatric, and preventive -- that is not within the purview of insurance,... (more)

A few years ago I switched to an HSA or Heath Saving Account. Now I can't count the number I of times that I have told people that HSA's are fine if you don't need them. I have a high deductible and most of my heathcare money is going to paying past medical bills. So my plan is never to get sick and die when convenient. It looks to me like the HSA option was more about extra funds being available to the financial community then it was to help me provide heathcare for myself. Of course medical costs are too high. People who think healtcare... (more)

I am a single mother who lives in South Carolina with my 16 year old daughter Nicky. Nicky has celiac disease. While this condition can be controlled with a gluten free diet, we have found ourselves in a great deal of grief. For one reason or another Nicky has eaten food that is like poison to her. Nicky gets an excrutiating stomach pain or migraines that last for 3 days. Medicines prescribed from her family doctor do not seem to work. She has to miss school 3 days in a row because of that. If I take her to the emergency room at any... (more)

I recently had to take my 3 year-old son to the doctor because of some bug that was going around at the daycare. He had just been dismissed from getting Medicaid and had no insurance. We sat at the ER for over 4 hours and they didn't give my baby a prescription or anything and I now have a doctor's bill for over $1,000. At this current moment, I don't have dental insurance and I need to have two wisdom teeth extracted and I can't afford to pay the $1300+ to have the work done. The insurance coverage for dental is ridiculously high and few... (more)

Dear Mr. President, et al, I amm 44 years old, very sick ,and truly and fully disabled. The process by which I finally gained the disability status from Social Security was frought with 3 years of hanging by a slim thread, and less than one paycheck. My marriage has failed, in part due to my illness, and inability to provide for my wife. We are in the process of separation, and divorce. I have been blessed with the Medicare Part A and B. But Part D for medicine is completely unattainable for me. Because I take some newer generation... (more)

In the past 25+ years I have represented thousands of uninsured Americans mostly victims of harm. Without health care they have become greater burdens on society and ultimately us as taxpayers. Prompt efficient care on the front end as well as reasonable access to health care professionals makes good economic sense but more than that, it is the right thing to do. The Canadian and United Kingdom systems are good examples of how health care for all is available and operates to the good of those countries citizens. The President has it right... (more)

I cannot afford necessary medications to control my asthma and osteoporosis. Proaction will save my health and life. All Americans should receive at least minimal medical attention and treatment.

Dear Mr. President, The main reason I decided to remain in Germany after serving and completing my enlistment in the USAF was the excellent health care system here. Sad and pitiful, isn't it...that I would CHOOSE to stay in a foreign country and obtain a German residency/working permit rather than return to my own country because of the lack of health care services and astronomical costs of medical insurance. I have a son who is diagnosed with hydrocephalus, CP, and has various physical and mental disabilities... so for me, this decision... (more)

My husband is 32 yrs old and he has severe pain in every joint on his body, therefore causing him to be unable to work or stand. I was getting health insurance through my job for my husband, my two kids and myself, but with him not working it became to much to pay and I had to cancel the insurance. Now my husband is in the hospital and we still don't have insurance because Medicaid keeps denying us. My children have it but my husband and I don't. Then to top it off my husband has also been turned down for disability, although he can't walk... (more)