i am 26 years of age and i will keep this short and to the point. i have run my own bizness for the past 7 years and it has never been a posibility for me to buy health care because of the cost. WHY IS A SINGLE PAYER NOT A OPTION? I AM MORE THAN WILLING TO PAY MORE TAXES TO GET ANY TYPE OF HEALTH CARE!

Two years before retiring and Medicare, I had to play roulette by having no health insurance. It was frightening!

President Obama - My employer does not pay for health insurance. The plan he offers is employee paid. Without notice to employees, the plan was unexpectedly changed to now require a $3k spend down before the Insurance kicks in. This was done to reduce premiums for the 2 married executive employees in the firm. With already strained budgets and significant monthly prescription costs now greatly increased under this new plan, employees are being hit again with less income for our domestic maintainence needs. Why can't the average citizen pay... (more)

America needs free health care!

I'm an independent sales contractor which means I don't have any health coverage through my employer. I'm 58 and my wife is 57. Thankfully, she is a teacher in a private school, but our health coverage costs $5,967.28 a year...with a 20% co-pay. My wife's salary is under 45,000.00 per year. Needless to say, this is a big chunk out of her income. Thank you so much for trying to help.

I am a retired engineer and have coverage. I also have Medicare. My problem is that I care about the 47 million plus fellow Americans that have no coverage or not enough. Most of what you are planning is good. I want to make sure that you include a public option, even if it is not single payer. We are never going to contain costs with a mixture of public/private plans. A public plan does not necessarily mean government run. We are the public. You all are just members of the public who are elected by us to administer some of the day to day... (more)

I resigned my job and am going back to school full-time in September 2009 for a master's degree at age 54. My cobra is too expensive 348./pre month and only lasts 18 months. Degree will take 2 years. I wish there was a cheap federal plan I could go on while I am in school.

I have been without health insurance while starting a new business. It was a very risky period, but I simply could not afford it. Our nation should provide basic health care for all citizens; far too many cannot afford it, or navigate their way.

I have a grandson who has no health insurance and a daughter( single mom) who will be losing her health insurance shortly. I am worried about them both as they cannot afford health insurance so therefore they don't go to the doctor even when sick.

I am a schoolnurseand see the stress some families face knowing that their children need to see a healthcare provider, but knowing they cannot afford to take them because they do not have health cae thru their work and they make "too much money" to meet the citeria for child health plus. It is heartbreaking to see!

My father worked his entire adult life as an electrical engineer for IBM and Lockheed Martin. Sadly he passed away 2 years ago from cancer. My mother who also worked her entire adult life (with 5 children)as an RN and MSW. My mother thought she and my father had done everything right in life to support their family and themselves. Since my father has passed away, my mother can barely afford to cover any type of prescription she may need and often goes without. My parents were two masters educated professionals who worked hard their entire... (more)

I have been in and out of temporary teaching jobs for much of my career. I am often denied health insurance with these temporary positions and I am also denied unemployment benefits because I am self-employed as an artist. I was told that I could get unemployment insurance if I sat on the sofa and watched tv but that I am denied it because of my art business even though the temporary positions would otherwise qualify. I am still affected by the cost of the surgery I had a few years ago and have yet to get back on my feet financially. So I... (more)

I am an IBM employee. I have 30+ years and can not afford what IBM wants to charge me for minimal health care as a retiree. Over $15,000 for my family most of which is my wife and I. Catastrophic care is all I need no drug coverage or anything. $15,000 for what now costs me $107 as an employed IBMer not retired. That would take my entire pension essentially to pay for it. Also since I doubt my job will last 5 years and I am 50 years old. If my job gets cut (they cut jobs constantly but not the work) I can not count on my pension to help... (more)

I have gone from being gainfully employed with company-subsidized healthcare to scraping by on unemployment with medicaid. But I'm one of the lucky ones. Because of my status, I can still receive medical care from a quality provider. I have friends who are underemployed, part-time with no insurance, and their health priority is urgent care only. In this country, we have socialized education ensuring that every person receives a modest educational foundation upon which they can choose to build, yet we have no basic minimum healthcare standard... (more)

I am married, right now my husband is the only one working. We pay $150. every two weeks for health care. On top of that we have a $400 dollar deductible. So we pay for health care, but the first $400 dollar in health care expenses comes from our pockets. My husband has high cholesterol. He was prescribed Liptor for it, it cost us $80. My nasal spray for my allegories, Nasonex, they wanted $150 for, so I did not get it. I can't even get what I need to stay healthy, because it costs too much. Then if you have an existing problem, they will not... (more)

My grown unemployed children, and one step grand-child and one granddaughter on the way, must depend on the state to help with insurance. Even when employed, they did not earn enough to pay for private health insurance. My husband is now retired, but we never had to worry about this particular problem. Nor did my parents before me, and we were just middle class families working every day. There is no excuse for not making a living wage and not having health insurance.

When my schoolteacher husband retired last summer, he was already eligible for Medicare, so I had to sign up with health insurance from my employer, our local town government.The first time I tried to simply refill my prescription for Lipitor, I was told that the insurance company wouldn't cover it, and the doctor prescribed a generic. I was ignored when I stated the FACT that there is no generic for Lipitor. Furthermore, the replacement upset my stomach, even at half the prescribed dosage. I cannot afford to pay for Lipitor every month... (more)

I pay into an HSA account, but I have severe sinus problems and need surgery, but it's going to cost me thousands and I have no way of being fully insured that I will be covered for a problem that's plagued me for most of my life.

Enhanced Medicare for all. Single payer is the ONLY sensible way to go. A $400 Billion annual savings on apples to apples administrative medical costs alone. Then there are savings on municipal budgets all across America, fewer deaths, lower worker's comp premiums for employers, the benefits go on and on. Please do not back down to lobbyists trying to simply save an industry. My industry disappeared 10 years ago but I and others like me survived. Turning your back on the American people by kowtowing to the insurance lobby may buy you... (more)

I will absolutely not pay a monthly premium of any kind as long as there as private sickness insurance companies with CEO's taking in salaries of on average $1.7 MILLION annually. That's obscene cannibalism. I eat a whole-food plant based diet, no meat of any kind, no dairy. You should try my raw chocolate treat made with nuts, dates and organic cocoa powder. I have never smoked. I also stay away from processed non-food of any kind and use homeopathy to treat damage from being overly radiated by the U.S. medical system. What about all the... (more)