I am a clinical supervisor for a hospice program. I have witnessed how efficient quality healthcare can be provided under a daily per diem amount allocated by Medicare. It is possible. However, the cost of complying with mounting regulations is driving the cost of care upward and dictating care. We need to refocus our time and efforts back to the patient.

My wife and I are in the bizarre position that our employer-provided insurance covers both of us, but not our disabled adult son, for whom we have thousands of dollars in medical bills. He should be able to overcome his disability with proper treatment, but we can't get it for him on our recession-limited income.

All was well until dementia set in and then a major stroke. Having planned for the future, it is still very expensive for us as seniors. I can now understand why some seniors will buy pet food before they will purchase their medicines... Unbelievable cost for acute care and rehab. $6,000 a month! It costs as much to spend the night as in a luxury hotel. Does that make sense?

I have 15 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. Right now they all have coverage, but who knows for how long. It is insane that 40% of our health care expenditure goes to insurance companies. It is criminal that we cannot negotiate with big pharma!

MY cousin has Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fibermialgia. She pays $1800.00 a month for insurance and this doesn't include deductibles or copayments this is just ridiculous. It's like paying another mortgage. They are barely making it. She has applied 4 times for Social Security Disability and has been declined all 4 times. Putting her through painful examinations each an every time! Where people from out of the country seem to get on it right away. Really the only way out is if she divorced her husband and went on welfare! This is not the way... (more)

It is frustrating to know that one of the biggest concerns that my friends who have lost jobs have is Medical Insurance. I wish every tax paying American family gets health insuranc.

I am blessed to have retired with excellent health benefits, but I know close friends or their children whose health and dental care is inadequate. It is very sad to hear of people choosing between their next meal and seeing a physician to address problems that often prevents enjoying that meal. We desparately need this reform to ensure care for all.

I am 92 years old and have had the good fortune to have had affordable health care almost my entire life. My heart goes out to all the millions of Americans who haven't the means to provide even the bare essentials of good health care for themselves and their children. How is it possible for us, the richest country in the world does make sure that the "Home of the Free and the Brave" includes the Right of all to good health care? Compare us to most of the developed countries in the world and we fall far, far short.

Single payer health care is the only rational way to go in the long run. Both my mother and brother have been seriously ill in the UK, received high quality care, and have not placed the family in danger of bankruptcy. They have also been able to choose and change doctors.

I was diagnosed with early stage breast cancer in December 2001. By accident I changed medical carriers and went for a physical instead of a vacation. Having cancer is frightening enough, but going through the choice of treatments is bewildering. Being my own advocate, I researched treatments on the Internet. The process lead me to choose the best treatments. After the treatments, there were extremely high medical costs to deal with. Our home looked like an office, stacked with medical bills. Co-pays, deciphering medical codes, xeroxing and... (more)

Although our daughter has three jobs (all part-time that total about 50 hrs/week), she has no employee health benefits. My wife and I pay for her high deductible medical insurance plus everything, up to the $3000 annual deductible, that is not covered. While our son was in college, we paid for his student insurance coverage. He graduated in December 2008 and has not found a job and has no health insurance. If he does not find a job soon with health benefits, my wife and I will soon be paying for his health insurance the same as we do for... (more)

Until a job included medical coverage, a family member had a miscarriage, bore and raised two children without any health care plan help

America can not be a proud free country that is an example to the world, if we can not take care of the basic needs of our citizens. America can not be competitive in this flat world when our businesses have to deal with the highest cost of health care for its workers. Please pass the health care reform.

I am a part time instructor with a Community Collge. I dont have a health insurance. It is a disgrace that in a civilized country like America we are degraded in this fashion. In England till 1980 we had universal health care even for foreign visitors. Then Thatcher stopped it. What we need is a cheap but efficient health care system that is affordable by all. Not an elitist system benefitting those with full time jobs.

I am going to turn 55 in February and I am at the time where I am becoming very concerned of how I will be able to afford healthcare in the future. Also, prescriptions are just getting to be outrageous to buy why you have to take them monthly. This expense alone can be a hardship on many. I have much older sisters and I see how they have had to continue to work even though they are in there 60's just to afford heathcare. This worries me because they will have to stop working soon and how will they afford this. All there retirement will be... (more)

My father passed away recently and the big surprise was the number and volume of health care records that had to be reviewed, moved and managed by hand. The lack of digitized records is appalling - paper records slow down the process and increase the chance of error - our healthcare system needs to GET CONNECTED.

I feel that every living human being should have health care. No one should be denied due to inability to pay.

I'm a single mom. Thank God my child and I are healthy, but, of course, that could change. I pay almost $500.00 per month for private health care (for my daughter and myself) and I'm unemployed. I'm in debt, partly, due to the high cost of just being covered. When I take her to the doctor, the insurance covers most of the cost, but when I go, I usually pay $100-200.00 for the visit (on top of my monthly bill). I don't have routine procedures done (recommended by the doctor) because I don't want to have to pay an additional $200.00 or so. ... (more)

My husband was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when he was 15. After he graduated from college with a degree in graphic design, he found that his career options were actually limited because he needed to work for a company that would provide healthcare - he couldn't do the freelance work that so many others in his field did. During the economic downturn in the SF bay area in 2000, he found himself without this safety net - and without healthcare. It was hard for me to hear him say he was declined for healthcare he so desperately needed... (more)

A collegue of mine had a friend with ovarian cancer in a nursing home who was denied palliative care in her last days.