I am disabled and have a very limited income; have had all kinds of health problems and had to pay regardless. My two sons have worked since their mid teens and have gone thru many periods of no work and I had to provide private insurance to them; they both suffer from anxiety/depression problems and I had to pay for all that care on top of insurance that would not cover it because it was a pre existing condition. Everything is preexisting at some time or other. Why should emotional problems be exempt from coverage? Now I am having severe... (more)

I have a family member who is dealing with addiction, and who has no insurance because he's unemployed. There are not many options for those who could be greatly helped by medications such as naltrexone, but who have limited ways, or no ways at all, to pay for them. With out-patient treatment and a generic drug, this person I love could become a more productive tax-paying member of society. Thank you.

I see the importance of health care reform every day in my health care practice. The current system bogs me down and gets in the way of delivering services, and that's to the folks who can afford coverage. I'm exhausted by patients not being able to afford prescription meds, and I don't care what anyone says or tries to explain, the Medicare Part D plan is awful and broken and makes no sense whatsoever. And I regret that small business owners, like my 56-year old younger brother, cannot afford health insurance as a one-man operation, or... (more)

AS an ER RN I see thousands of dollars wasted on antiquated charting We oftern see the same patients overand over again because they have no health coverage and cannot go to an urgent care center or PCP. Even though our ER docs know they are not really sick, they have to do a full work up if any patient complains of chest pain. We need a major overhaul!

I am 60 and a consultant in a company of one. I have pre-existing conditions that require continuing medication and regular checkups. I cannot afford ANY private health care plan and I've applied for many. I am not old enough for medicare and not disabled to allow medicaid. If I lived in Canada, France, the UK or any other major industrialized country I would have health insurance. So why not in the USA!

I have lost two homes in order to provide health care for my grown son. While he worked a full time job, it was through a "temp" agency, so the company (General Electric) could consider him "temporary" and not have to provide health care for him and hundreds of other full-time "temporary" workers. In the course of ten years, I had to sell my first home to pay off the second mortgage (for my son's health care) and had to turn around and do it for my smaller, much less expensive town home. I am now in an... (more)

I was laid off from my job last October and I have not had insurance since then. I have tried to look into buying my own, but my family cannot afford it. It is important that I get health care because cancer runs in my family and I need to be sure I can afford health care if I need it. My sister has insurance on the other hand, but her deductible is $1500 just for herself and she is a single mom raising 2 kids that are both Type 1 diabetics and she can't afford to go to the doctor. I hope something changes soon as far as health care goes. All... (more)

My wife is a registered nurse, who works in ICU and she has many health care stories. She tells me how rediculous the costs of one Tylenol is. Right now the hospital she works for is a county owned hospital, supported by the tax payers supposedly but several attempts have been made to turn it into a hospital for profit. Big businesses are buying out all the city and county hospitals and hospitals are run like your department stores, no money no service. You can't pay, then you get no health care, medications, etc. Here is one health care... (more)

I have known the high costs of health care and am experiencing them now. As a matter of fact, they have eliminated all coopays with our ULA plan and placed us on high deductables with scheduled procedures. Now I must make sure I have at least $200. to go to the doctor until we meet deductables. I cringe to think of what will happen in an emergency surgery situation at the Trauma Unit. It is ridiculas. We both work to afford health care. How insane is that! I cannot decline a health plan or my husband will be penalized, so I am forced to... (more)

I think that caring for everyone is important and I could really use a break in my health care costs. Between allergies and my other prescriptions I can't seem to get ahead! I got a bill from a lab I didn't even know existed because I went to my regular doctor blah blah blah, the point it is was 600 dollars! I can't afford to pay that, so my credit will never have a chance of being good enough. I hope it doesn't effect me when I start to look for a home of my own.

For 4 years I could not afford health insurance; I worked for an office of only 4 people, so our owner was not required to offer it. And I could not afford private coverage. I had kidney stones that I just had to "deal with" rather than get any health care. You do not know the meaning of pain until you've had kidney stones. We are no stronger than our weakest link. Until all Americans have affordable and EFFECTIVE, USABLE health care coverage, all of us will continue to suffer, both financially and through the threat of... (more)

I did 21 years in the Navy. I am retired and have insurance. I believe that every U.S. Citizen that pays income tax has the right to some sort of health care. I am an independent. And to all the fear mongers crying socialism: When it comes your time to receive social security payments, you don't get any.

Hello. We have the most expensive healthcare system in the world. We need change. Thank you.

In August 2008 I recieved a frantic call from my father's longtime girlfriend from Chicago. My father had been missing for 9 days and a police report had been filed. Dropping everything, I took the next flight. By back tracking my father's steps, I was able to locate him. He was in a coma in the I.C.U. of Rush Hospital after undergoing an Emergency Brain Surgery due to a violent fall sustained on his workplace of 30 years. Since we were not informed, no family had been at his bedside, therefore the state of Illinois assumed Guardianship. My... (more)

My mother died with stage four pancreatic cancer. It was very sad to see her cutting back on her pain pills because she didn't have money to buy her medicine. She was con- stantly worrying about doctor bills coming in because she didn't have a supplement.

Neither I, my son's father nor my current husband are insured. My current husband's COBRA ran out last year and the increase in costs since 2005 haven't allowed myself or my son's father to have insurance since we lost our jobs in 2006/2007. We are all educated people. I have a PhD, my husband has a Masters and my son's father has a BA. We have all earned good livings throughout our lives, but lask of income, jobs and affordable health care has put us in disparate situations. My son's ALL-KIDS insurance was revoked at the end of... (more)

I am a college educated wife and mother who works in a non-profit organization (Better Business Bureau). Seven years ago, my husband, who had a very nice paycheck, suffered a sudden heart attack with many complications. Then, while having by-pass surgery, he suffered a stroke. Overnight, we lost his $100,000 salary. Due to all the complications, he had 6 physician specialists, several intensive care stays, and a 6 week hospital stay. On top of the $500 health insurance premiums, several thousand dollars of medical bills came to our... (more)

I have great insurance and have always had coverage. I see the emergency rooms filled with people who are using the ER for their primary health care;this is one of the main reasons that health care costs have gone up. We need a plan to provide health care to those who have to resort to the most expensive treatment for minor illnesses. We need to address alternatives so that emergency rooms are used for emergencies only.This would eliminate an enormous cost.

I became disabled in 1991 from a back injury. My employer had outstanding health care coverage, better than COBRA, that insured my wife and me for a few years until I was granted Social Security and Medicare. But then, for the first time in our lives, my wife was not covered for health insurance by my employer. She was in her mid 40s with age appropriate ailments. Nothing unexpected or inappropriate for her age. I applied for health insurance for her through a broker but no insurance company would consider health insurance for her... (more)

As a RN for over thirty years, I have seen how the costs of health care have impinged on quality and quantity. The insurance companies run the show. Physicians go along as long as they are making profits, while care decreases. I pray you can do something to change things, but until the way the congress is elected I don"t see how you can. You have my full and complete support in your endeavors. I just hoe you and your staff are smart enough to outsmart them. God Bless you.