Most people would say I have an excellent job at an excellent company with an excellent health care plan. Over my past 25 years I have continued to see my health care costs rise and I see no end in sight. I do not believe that the current system is sustainable and I do not trust it as far as I could throw it. Though I have been very fortunate to have a steady job with the same company for the last 25 years, I expect I fall into a very same group of folks and the conventional wisdom is that this group is assured to shrink over... (more)

A hospital called my brother to inform him that he had a large spot on his lung (smoker)and they wanted to help him, but as soon as they found that he didn't have health care they said, "oh, it probably isn't anything to worry about"! It was obvious they were worried for him until they found out he had no insurance. It wasn't very long until he had a brain tumor and soon died from the complication of the cancer spreading. MY wife was severely injured with head trauma in 1985. She was at the point of death for weeks and in the... (more)

My father is a cardiologist in Richmond, Kentucky. This reform isn't only for patients, but for doctors, too! I've seen his Account Receivables: it numbers in the millions because so many people don't have insurance that they can afford. He doesn't need the money, but these people don't need the debt! Thanks, Ibrahim

I recently retired after 31 years as a Kentucky public defender. I have health care provided for life. I have in this decade had cancer surgery as well as several colonoscopies (my mother had colon cancer), and was able to have these without ruinous costs. I am appalled that 47 million people are unable to have the same kind of health care that I have been provided. I am disgusted that our infant mortality rate and longevity rate lag behind the rest of the world. And I am equally disgusted and somewhat puzzled by the claim of many on the... (more)

I just lost my health insurance due to rising costs, and I, as a woman nearing childbearing age, couldn't need it more. Despite the incredible cost of premiums, deductables and co-insurance, it still made the way easier. Without it, I am now stuck in the "governmental aid" bind. I work, and therefore am undeserving of medicaid, and can only qualify for income based plans at some clinics, that take no interest in all the bills my income has to pay, have no care for the taxes taken from every check. Please tell me why my gross income... (more)

For over 2 years I have been a nurse practitioner in a free clinic for the uninsired in rural Kentucky. I wish just once a legislator would come to see first hand the dire situations of the people we serve. I am so proud of my community for supporting this clinic, but often feel we are holding a finger in the crumbling dike. Every night I work I say to myself "there but for the grace of God go I".

When my youngest son was a baby we had an HMO. He had several issues with allergies and allergic reactions to different foods and medicines. It took 6 months before our doctors had done enough to justify referring him to a specialist. Most of the issues were cleared within a month of seeing the specialist. Second, my uncle is unable to get insurance which makes preventative care extremely difficult. It's very frustrating to know his health could be improved if he could get the preventative care, but it's not an option. I have worked in... (more)

My rates are going up, like yours and everyone else. There should be a standard set of rules for all providers in order to stop the abuses of the system.

My son has no Health Insurance and suffers from Hepatitis C. He gets no care at all and it could cause his death sometime. He can't get any insurance due to this disease and his former drug use. (He has been clean more than 2 years.)

I am a retired nurse and I also am a health care user. I am a big believer President Obama's idea preventive health. I would like him to explain this more to people more. Insurance compaines back away from because it means that up front it means pt sees their pt at least four times a year for routine tests and blood work and at one complete physical per year but this catches at least 75 percent of serious and costly diseases that could cost much more. I am most grateful that I have an internist is practices preventive med. and he has caught a... (more)

We are retirees blessed with medical care. However, here in Lexington, great numbers of citizens have no care. Our church, Faith Lutheran, is part of a group of churches sponsoring the Mission Lexington Dental & Medical Clinics. The waiting lists are long, the needs are great, and the medical personnel volunteering their time are doing all they can. We are also a part of a group of churches called B.U.I.L.D., Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct Action. The Health Dept., in response to the 1100 people attending an... (more)

I'm an RN.I work in a university medical center that serves an area made up of a few urban areas and a large rural area, historically and presently economically and socially depressed. My job is a rotating position in pre-operative holding and post-operative same-day discharge area. Far too often I see patients who come in with advanced disease processes because they have waited too long to obtain care. Just last week, I took care of a 32 year-old woman with two small children who has advanced terminal cancer. She had delayed going to a... (more)

I am a nurse in a NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit in Lexington, Ky. I am very aware of the high price of healthcare and encounter many families that struggle to pay the costs. Many premature babies stay in our unit for a month or more, mounting up very large bills by the time they are sent home. Some families qualify for Medicaid, but many work at low paying jobs and have limited transportation as they try to continue working and visiting their baby, sometimes from several hours away. I am fortunate to have health insurance for my family through... (more)

Use Mayo Clinic as a model when creating a new health care plan. Quality, integrated care and non-profit. The first Blue Cross policies were mutual companies. When profit crept into health care, costs escalated and quality of care vanished.

the cost of my standard group policy was going up $600 last year. I had to choose a different plan. I can think of no event to explain such a dramatic jump in premiums in one year, except greed on part of ins. comp. and out of control and often unreasonable charges for services by health care providers.

A good friend of mine just died of cancer. He was in an HMO and he was shuttled from different doctors to perform surgery, chemo and nutritional support. The doctors did not seem to coordinate his care and he was left to wonder what his options were. He received various opinions that never seemed to agree. He deserved care that was explained fully to him by a doctor who followed his treatment step by step.

After working in the Health System as an RN since 1972, I developed severe hip and low back pain, resulting in bilateral hip joint replacements in 2004 and 2006.While then on Cobra, My balance after Insurance was approximately $6000.00. I'm still paying the "co-pay" for these procedures 5 years later. I continue to experience problems. Having had Neurosurgery for spine problems in Jan.09, and am scheduled for knee joint replacement on May 26th. Now, on SS Disability, the co-pay is much less. I worry about the pre existing bill which... (more)

Six years ago my husband lost his job because of cut back and bankruptcy! Through no fault of his our entire life was interrupted...and changed. Our ages were 59 and 62 and although we had some assets, we were not prepared to cover everything. Health care was available through COBRA, the cost for him was almost 700 dollars a month, and I was not covered. We were trapped by age, he being the younger and unable to withdraw from his 401K without penalty because he was not 59 1/2, but we had to anyway in order to cover him. If I had not been able... (more)

Since my 18th birthday i have constantly been sick. Going to all the doctors and having multiple tests done really has racked up the medical bill. With the insurance my family has, we are stuck paying the majority of the bills while our insurance company barely pays a cent. To this day I am still sick, still seeing doctors, still having tests, and still going in debt just trying to maintain my own health.

* 23 year old * Mother of a 2 year old daughter * Wife of an amazing husband * Former Medical Student * Fighting for my life due to a disease that affects 1 out of 1 million people and has no known cause. I have never voted for a president, based on their political party association, or status. I vote for who I believe truly stands for the most important issue, which to me is health. I voted for Obama, for many reasons, but most importantly because he seems and is proving to be one of the most... (more)