I have 2 businesses that are growing at a steady pace- however, I can barely hire a qualified employee because it's so difficult to offer benefits- I don't even have benefits myself! and as a designer that works with dangerous chemicals and machinery- this is not ideal. I also have a friend who got hit by a car on his bike and had to go to the hospital but fled the hospital when they asked if he had health insurance- his fear for the bill led to jeopardizing his health.

I own a small business (architecture firm). The costs of health insurance have almost doubled in the last few years while the benefits have declined (larger copays and deductibles). Health care premiums are 15% of the salaries of some of my staff. Outrageous!

My HMO does not cover my cardiac care. I need to pay for all my test and office visits out of my own pocket. It has been a real strain on my family. I postpone seeing my doctor as I don't always have enough money to pay for the office visit.

I am a freelancer and when things are slow things can get bad very quickly.

My husband and I are freelancers, badly hit by the battered economy and buckling beneath the cost of healthcare insurance for our small family. We do not have access to an employer's health care plan. For years, we have simply stopped seeing doctors because we cannot afford them. Our health insurance is there mainly to help us through a health catastrophe--it is house insurance, really, not health insurance. This is a despicable state of affairs in the wealthiest nation in the world.

For many years as a self-employed person I paid my own health insurance. We must make it easier for everyone to be insured.

My husband and I have our own company and pay the health insurance for our employees. the cost is very high and business is difficult, but we feel that it is our responsibility to offer this-- not as a perk but a necessity. Personally, i have just had a year of health problems that included two stomach infections, three urinary tract infections and a pinched nerve caused by spinal stenosis- which resulted in surgery- the case of last resort after seven months of other treatments-all costly, yet not effective. but i trued to avoid an expensive... (more)

It just doesn't make sense that the United States of America which is the leader of the world in almost everything is still refusing to join those less wealthier countries in providing basic health care coverage for it's citizen.

i have always had health care from my employer but have many family members and friends that cannot afford it, especially if they lose their job or have a small business. Not only would Universal Health Care make all of us healthier, it would help the economy. More people would be able to start a small business or accept part-time employment if health care costs did not have to be factored into their business model.

I know I am healthy so I do not have much to complain about, but my insurance is bare minimum, and the fear that something will go wrong is something in the back of my mind everyday. My father recently passed away of cancer, and through the hospitals and doctors visits, we saw the bills that passed from the center to the provider and he barely had a thing to pay. We were so lucky. I on the other hand am self employed and I work my butt off, every day all day. I have a pretty lackluster plan that gives me the basics but the choices are few,... (more)

After years of paying for health care at rates close to $1800/month, I now am able to provide employer-offered healthcare at no cost to me. I do NOT want my benefits to be considered taxable income. I already pay an effective tax rate (in New York City) over 40 percent! Now, you want to make it even higher??? Why should I bail out the richest Americans (and non-Americans) AND bail out the Walmart workers whose own employer refuses to give them basic health coverage? I work 45 hours a week to KEEP my benefits and I don't want to be taxed... (more)

My Mom worked hard all her life...yet when she was afflicted with breast cancer, her health benifits wern't enough to help treat her...that's not right. I wish we all have the chance to get adequate health for any of our ills...

I want a single-payer health care system. I will keep pushing until we have government in charge of health care and not "big business". I won't support the Democrats unless they back a single-payer health care system.

My sister

We are a family of three. My husband & I are both self-employed. Our healthcare through Oxford costs us almost $20,000 per year. This is an outrageous amount of money to pay for coverage.

President Obama, I fully support and thank you for your strong effort to reform the health care system. I am currently living off of unemployment with no supplemental income, and have no health coverage, but am in need of it. Not having health insurance is frightening and a constant source of anxiety. I am already living hand to mouth and if anything should go wrong with my health, i will go into total bankruptcy. I recently applied for medicaid and am waiting to hear their decision. Even if I am approved, in my experience the doctors who... (more)

Quality health care costs my family more and more every year. But what has really been an eye opener for me is how much it costs an elderly person to get good care in a nice nursing home. The pricetag is astronomical and means that everything my parents ever saved and built over a lifetime will go to that nursing home for his care. And when that money runs out, me and my siblings will have to provide what Medicaid doesn't provide. We are fortunate that they have resources and it saddens me to think of what happens to those vulnerable elders... (more)

I have to say I have not reviewed, in depth, your detailed plan. However, I believe in you, and trust you will do the right thing. 1. Health care CANNOT become nationalized (in the way that I have experienced) --- in the sense of generalized health care. I lived in NYC for 10 years, and with luxury, was able to choose my own doctor and have seen her over the years. Last year, I moved to Boston, and MA health care is public --- suffice it to say, that though I had 'great insurance' I was trying to gain 'access' to the 'right group.' This did... (more)

quick and simple - my boyfriend and I both out of work - fortunately I have landed a position and negotiated an early start to health benefits... My man, 51, is not eligible for Unemployment due to the commission nature of his prior employment, and consequently has no income. His health insurance fee for a single man - healthy - is almost $ 500 /month. Thanks to stimulus plan assistance, this has been reduced since Feb - what a blessing. However - until that change and my recent employment, our total health insurance cost per month was... (more)

In 2000, I watched my dad, who had worked all his life, was a union member with medical coverage, die as health insurance carriers refused to pay for cancer treatment that could have prolonged his life. At Sloan Kettering in NYC he received a treatment that allowed him to return to work, gave him great amounts of energy and most of all gave us hope. But the insurance would not pay for continued treatment and six weeks went by; shortly after he went into hospice care and died the next day.