Health care for myself and my family has always been a great burden. Right now my wife and I has no health insurance coverage because it cost way too much. I'm the only one working right now and the Insure cost is around 300.00 a month. I now reside here in Spanish Fork Ut, and I ern $8.25 and hour. I'm in school studying pharmacy Tech so that I can hopefully in the future be able to afford good health insurance in the future. I'm also a veteran and if it wasn't for them I would really be up the creek with out a paddle. I have a combination of... (more)

I CAN'T AFFORD TO HAVE ANY KIDS EVEN WHEN I HAVE MY OWN HEALTH INSURANCE. I just gave birth a month ago and now I have a hospital bill for $1,500 plus all other bills from doctors, specialists etc. Why we cannot have insurance programs available for everyone like most of other developed countries (Canada, Spain, France, UK). Why my husband and me cannot afford to go to the hospital for an emergency? Even with insurance, we now have a hospital bill of $900 for a 2 hour check up at the hospital on a emergency in a Sunday afternoon. Why is... (more)

My law firm is mid-sized, and one great benefit we've always had is that premiums for myself and my family have been paid. That is now a thing of the past. For the last several years staff has had to contribute to ever increasing premium costs. This year, the firm was forced to enroll in a plan that requires that the first $500 of ANY care needed is deductible. I now must pay higher premiums AND to be seen for a prescription for antibiotics for an ear infection, for example, at the cost of an office visit of $120, or for lab work, or for... (more)

I am a diabetic. The limited coverage I am able to get does not even begin to cover my needs medically. I had to go through 6 months of record-keeping before being "allowed" to basically buy my own insulin pump (I paid more than my insurance company did, yet they got to decide if I "needed" one?!) Insurance companies are making HUGE money while really offering no true "coverage." For six months out of the year, I have to pay 100% out of pocket for all my medical needs (right around $1600 a month!!) What am I... (more)

I don't care if I have to pay more money to help everyone in America get healthcare. Mr President please don't be afraid to ask America for more money to make it happen! I'm a registered Republican in Utah, and you have my support and my entire families! Infact I helped my mom and wife vote for you. It was the first time they have ever voted in their 49 years. I also helped my daughter vote for the first time at 18. Healthcare is too high for employees and for companies, it has to all be reworked.

This is not about me. It involves another person I will call Mike. I didn't get to know Mike, but, I know his brother. In the interest of Mike, we placed a "money donation jar" on our check-out counter. The money collected was to be used to help meet the needs of Mike's family and pay for uncovered costs. Like so many others, Mike had contracted cancer and was unable to work. And, despite the fact he worked as a Police Officer, Mike was underinsured or, in any case, lacked the resources to cover his financial needs during his... (more)

My husband and I have been self employed for the past 10 years. We own a small home design company. Until recently we have been able to purchase healthcare through a large insurance company. Unfortunately due to the recession our business has substantially slowed. It costs us several hundred dollars per month for coverage that is mediocre. Eventually we could not afford the high cost of our health care premiums and we chose to cancel our health care coverage. It is very scary living without health care; you spend your days praying you, your... (more)

I AM 80 YEARS OF AGE--PAY FOR MY HEALTH INSURANCE. , I TAKE 9 PILLS A DAY FOR HBP, THYROID MALFUNCTION, I HOPE TO SEE PRESIDANT OBAMA HAVE THE HELP HE NEEDS TO PASS ALL AMERICANS TO HAVE HEALTH CARE. I AM ON LOW INCOME AND PAY 600.00 A YEAR PLUS 95 TO MEDICARE AND A 10.00 CO PAY AT THE OFFICE. EMERGENCY IS 300.00 FOR THE HOSPITAL. I HAVE TWO ADULT CHILDREN THAT HAVE NO INSURANCE AT ALL. MY DAUGHTER IS 47 AND MY SON IS 54---NOW OUT OF A JOB AND CAN NOT GET ONE. IT IS VERY HARD ON ALL OF US SO WE THREE ARE DEPRESSED. THE ONLY INTERTAINMENT WE... (more)

I have no health insurance because I decided to stay home with my new little grandson instead of my full-time career. My daughter has to work full-time in order to get insurance for her family (including my little grandson). I tried to get private coverage, but was denied because I had previous health concerns (not too serious and I'm hoping for it not to be in the future.) I could get an expensive and not very good plan that that the state offers uninsured people with previous health concerns, but I can't afford it. This is not fair and not... (more)

I don't have one. I am one of the fortunate Americans who is happy with her health care plan, but I want to see that all Americans have coverage.

My wife is probably the healthiest person I know. However, she can not get private insurance. She has very mild depression. She prefers to take meds to help (Efexor, excuse the spelling). We are currently paying for a pregnancy "out of pocket" because we can't get her insurance. This is very difficult anytime much less in this economy. We buy her meds from Canada and India for 1/5 of the price her medication cost here. It would be nice if the pharmacuetical companies and private insurance would make health care affordable so... (more)

My husband is 60 years old and has had hip replacements. He's too young for Medicare and no insurance company will insure him. Our citizens believe it's about who can afford healthcare. That's only part of the problem. Insurance companies will not take on clients with known health issues. I believe that the Obama plan will help, but I also want to say that I do not understand why we are paying a middle man (the insurance companies). Let's get rid of our insurance industry and let's focus on providing healthcare to all of our citizens. ... (more)

I have worked at the same company for 7 years. Every year we have a meeting where we are told we will be paying more for healthcare. With each passing year our out of pocket costs and co-pays have gone up while our coverage and choices have gone down. I am tired of constantly paying more and more for coverage that continues to decrease.

My father has a (currently benign) tumor in his forehead. Although he is in excellent health in every other respect, he has been deemed an "unacceptable risk" by every health insurance company we have applied to. As an entrepeneur, he has no corporate options to fall back on. Similarly, most of my immediate family have been found "uninsurable" due to family medical histories. My daughter, who was born with a collapsed lung that took her doctor less then five minutes to fix, has been denied insurance repeatedly despite the... (more)

Every year we fight to keep our benefits. The larger corporations continue to slash at the coverages. But I see that this is a national problem, that is difficult to change because of all the financial involvement of the pharmacutical companies in politics. Good luck and I hope you can pull it off.

When the discussion for reforming healthcare comes up, I hope the discussion shifts more towards looking at those companies that are successfully keeping costs low and still allowing choice and adopting those practices across the country. I currently work for Intermountain Healthcare and am proud of the successes it has made in this regard. I am no expert by any means (I work in Housekeeping), but do appreciate the benefits I am offered as well as the services and associated low costs that I have to pay with regards to my healthcare. I am... (more)

I worked for over 20 years as a medical specialty office manager in the field of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. During those years our office sometimes cared for patients who were insured through the HMO type of insurance plan. Unfortunately the design of the HMO plan itself determines that it is in the financial interest of the HMO Primary Care Physician (PCP) NOT to send the patient to a specialist. The PCP is given 'X' amount of dollars to care for the health needs of 'X' number of patients. The fewer medical tests and specialty... (more)

I work for County Substance Abuse Services. As a County employee I am blessed with pretty good health insurance but our client's have a tremendous health care need, especially males and women without children struggling with substance abuse and in many cases underlying mental health challenges. These folks typically fall in the "unfunded" or non-Medicaid funded client category; therefore, their only hope for services comes by way of Federal, State, and County funding that is heavily prioritized toward those within the criminal... (more)

I am a mother to a 5 year old son. My husband is self-employed and we are living in our first home. We are very careful with our money and always make sure we can pay our bills. We can not afford health care. I live in fear everyday that we could lose our first home if one of us were to get sick. We could be ONE illness away from losing everything we have worked so hard for. This is America. It is unthinkable that there are hard working families going without health care because it is too expensive!!

I was recently diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. It had been 18 months since I had my last mammogram. My husband was out of work for a year and I could not go to the doctor sooner as I was aware that health insurance companies do not cover pre-existing conditions. When my husband did get a job with health insurance, I was able to get a mammogram. If I had gone sooner, it would have been early stage 1 and I could have been saved from having to get chemotherapy and three surgeries. The doctors tell me that if I had waited another... (more)