UPDATED! These are our stories: Vigil for Healthcare reform

Posted January 13th, 2010 by Anita

Healthcare reform is now REALLY almost at the finish line, with a vote expected this week. Hundreds of thousands of families are waiting to find out if reform will actually:

- help out their family budgets,

- ensure that their health coverage is both accessible and affordable,

- offer strong regulation

- protect families from frustrating, costly, and unfair insurance practices.

It’s not a done deal.  There’s still time to raise the voices of real moms and families whose stories help everyone– including legislators and insurance companies– understand the positive impact healthcare reform could bring.  So we’re taking a moment to share the stories of MomsRising members here regularly until health reform is passed, reminding us who is waiting, reminding us what’s at stake on a personal level.

Please join us here to read members’ personal stories, and to participate in our virtual vigil.  We’ll keep this post at the top of the blog so you can find it here easily.  And you’re invited to join in as we keep raising our voices in Congress, and as we light a candle at our homes each night for the families featured here– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/13/2010

Kyesha from Alabama

I have an HSA (Health Savings Account) at my current job. It is basically a program where you save money every month in to an account to pay healthcare costs. There is a plan attached to it that pays “preventative” care and that’s it. My employer doesn’t offer any other type of healthcare.

I realized how horrible this health insurance is (if you can call it that) when my daughter had a horrible accident last August.

When I called this insurance company I was told that the HSA doesn’t cover “accidents”. What kind of health insurance doesn’t cover accidents????

We are now thousands of dollars in debt and still having to pay hundreds into this insurance every month! We need health care reform now for our children!

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Kyesha’s family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/14/2010

Rachael from Arkansas

When my husband began working for his company 6 years ago, it cost us $200 to have our first child.

Now, with our third child on the way we have a deductible of $3,500 with all payments out of pocket until then.

Even after we meet our deductible we pay 20% coinsurance.  And our premiums have more than doubled!!! My children are no longer insured since they are healthy and we could no longer afford it. We are hoping to get them on state insurance when they become eligible.  Hopefully nothing horrible will happen in the next 3 months!!

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Rachael’s family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/15/2010

Carol Anne from Arizona

I had to quit paying for health insurance for my husband and myself last December. The money just wasn’t available for the premiums – it was a choice between eating and having health insurance. Now, we are 49 and a 64 years old, with no health coverage whatsoever.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Carol Anne’s family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/16/2010

Cynthia from California

Our healthcare system in this country is a drain on any working person’s budget to say the least, especially if you are a single parent such as I. The insurance I presently have through my employer is inadequate even though I pay over $200 per month for this coverage.

The $40 co-pay is very hard to come up with each time one of my children or myself visits a doctor’s office, not to mention the $500 deductible for each person before insurance pays 65% of the cost and the $500 deductible per person on prescriptions before insurance pays and then only a portion is paid.

This is particularly hard at the beginning of each year as my blood pressure medication is $90 per month without insurance and until I meet my deductible each year this is what is costs me each month, when the deductible is met, the medication is $25 per month.

My healthcare horror story: On Thanksgiving weekend 2007, I was not feeling well, so went to the local clinic where I was told to go to the local ER to have my blood pressure checked and monitored. I was kept in the hospital overnight for observation and later received a bill for $7,000 which was impossible for me to pay, obviously.

I contacted the local hospital and was told that I make too much money ($49,000 per year) to qualify for any program for payment of my bill.

After being threatened with a lawsuit by the hospital, I cashed in my profit sharing plan at the office to pay this bill which cost me a large penalty and taxes at the end of the year. Insurance companies are taking our money and not giving much back that is for sure.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Cynthia’s family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/17/2010

Liz from Colorado

A year ago, I decided to return to school full-time to finish my degree when we moved to Denver for my husband’s job. So, we have health insurance through his employer, but when Open Enrollment came around last fall, we had to drop to a lower level of coverage, which has a lifetime cap of $50,000. At today’s inflated rates, we would burn through that within a few weeks if one of us were to need hospitalization, God forbid.

However, last year my husband suffered a minor injury at a local restaurant, and when he filed a claim their P&C insurance company said to get treatment and they would then reimburse us.

So the x-rays, specialist visits, MRI and prescribed physical therapy (which he hasn’t done yet, because we can’t afford it) have all been through his health plan, with us paying out-of-pocket copays and having to make monthly payments for the medical bills.

Meanwhile, our child needed $1,000 worth of dental work and we are on a payment plan with the dentist for that as well. If we get behind, then our good credit rating will take a nosedive.

Plus, his company is talking about layoffs in April, and there’s no way we can afford COBRA and keep our house. We would welcome a single-payer system that provides affordable care for everyone, provided that everyone funds that system equally!

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Liz’s family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/18/2010, MLK Jr. Day

Rita from Connecticut

My sister, Laura, is 55 years old and has been stricken with a degenerative brain disease which has all but incapacitated her. She is living with my 74 year-old mother. The paperwork is overwhelming, and the health plan (Medicaid) is nearly impossible to work with. Just when she thinks she has it figured out, something changes.

She went to pick up a RX that Laura has been on for the better part of a year, and suddenly it’s, “This isn’t covered….(or) you’re in a spend down.” If my sister gets an aid to come in two or three times a week, she’d better watch what she does: if she is lucky enough to fit into a PT program twice a week, she’ll lose the aid.

I can’t tell you in this small space what an insurmountable hardship this is. Please fix it.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Rita’s family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/19/2010

Kathy from Delaware

My twin sister suffered a fall this past fall and severed her spinal cord. She is only 49 years old. Without specialized rehabilitation offered, she had no chance to gain any ability to get some quality of life.

Today after nine months, she is a quadriplegic and is on a ventilator. She only has Medicaid and has now been bounced from one long term care facility to another each time she is admitted to a hospital for intensive care conditions. The care in all of these facilities sadly atrocious.

With public insurance, she would have had an opportunity for rehabilitation.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Kathy, her twin sister and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/20/2010

Nancy from Florida

I’m 46 and married and have 3 kids, and never had to worry about health care until I lost my job. My husband is self-employed and he and I both have pre-existing conditions (I’m a cancer survivor) that make it impossible for us to find private insurance.  We bought it for our three kids, but it’s expensive and the loopholes and deductibles are so crazy, sometimes it feels as if we’re not paying for anything, really.

Next year it’s time for my cancer scan, to make sure I’m still in remission. I can’t get it. I also can’t afford all but the most critical drugs to keep myself alive. I also worry that myself or my husband will be in a car accident. Trying to private pay a hospital bill would destroy our family.

If Congress doesn’t stand up to the insurance companies and find a workable option for American families, the world will keep turning.  But good people like me, and my husband, and millions of others, will just suffer ill health and die sooner than we might have, leaving our children orphans. I’m not being overly dramatic here. It really is a life or death issue for me, and millions like me.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Nancy and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/21/2010

Debra from Georgia

When I brought my son to his pediatrician, they informed me that our insurance will do well check-ups or physicals on children older than 6 years old. This is military insurance – Tri-Care Prime/Retire. They said it is unnecessary! This is a joke! Children need physicals every year in order to get into public school. A cost of a physical is $165! Who has that kind of money!

The insurance companies are a racket and they are the cause of our health care problems! They need to regulate the insurance companies so everyone can afford great health care instead of our hard earn money go into the stockholders back pocket!!

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Debra and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/22/2010

Sissy from Hawaii

People work all their lives and then retire just to get cut off of medical insurance and drug coverage.

My in-laws pay a fortune for their medicines and can barely afford to go to the doctor. The saddest thing is that they do not have dental coverage and have to pay through the teeth just to take care of their teeth.

It is REALLY SAD that once you have worked all your life, you still end up in the hole because all your retirement money goes to pay for medical bills.

No joy in becoming retired and elderly. This is not the American way.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Sissy and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/23/2010

Mary from Idaho

My boyfriend is self-employed and can not afford health care. Two years ago he had brain surgery. No health care.

He paid his medical bills with his credit card and now he is in debt to the tune of 50,000 dollars. To top that off, his credit cards just upped his interest rate. How many others are out there in the same position? Something has to give and soon.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Mary and her boyfriend– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/23/2010

Melody from Illinois

As a small family-owned business that has been severely hit by the credit shut down we may have to close and thus all of our employees will find themselves without health insurance. For 25 years we have been one of the rare non-union construction companies that offer prevailing wage AND health insurance here in Chicago.

I myself had a major medical emergency 7 years ago at the age of 41, that without insurance would have cost us over a half million dollars. As a result of my medical situation I had to have another surgery late last year, that without insurance would have cost $125,000. The doctors tell me I can anticipate facing the same procedure in another 5-6 years. I will continually be on meds for the rest of my life.

Congress needs to either provide health care reform that WORKS for ALL Americans or face paying, through Medicaid, for the ever-expanding health care needs of the increasing number of Americans like me who are going to end up on welfare thanks to the present credit crisis.

Don’t even get me started on how overcrowded and short-handed Public Health Centers are today. I worked for a decade at a community health center when it and other centers were already overburdened.

The Federal and State governments weren’t funding public health programs then and have over the years decreased what funding they were providing. Let’s face it, the present system doesn’t work!

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Melody and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/25/2010

Lois in Illinois

My husband and I are both self- employed. I have not had any health insurance for 4 years because I was turned down. The irony is that I am really healthy, don’t take any prescription meds and take really good care of myself.

But if you are self-employed and have to purchase private insurance, insurance companies can turn you down for anything that they deem a red flag and most of the time they don’t even tell you what that is. My husband and son have coverage that has a $5,000 deductible but my son has asthma so Humana declared this a pre-existing condition. Guess what? The only reason I ever take my son to the doctor is for asthma, so we have to pay out of pocket any way.

The whole system is so insane, so unfair, so wrong. In the richest country in the world, this is shameful and embarrassing. I have to stop writing now otherwise my day will be ruined thinking about it.

Don’t stop writing, Lois, we need you! Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Lois and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/26/2010

Jennifer from Indiana

My husband lost his job in November with nothing turned up so far.

We lost his income AND are having to pay out an extra $1,300/mo for COBRA. I have my own work-from-home business but neither my daughter nor I are eligible for private insurance because we both have pre-existing condition.

We really could make it on my business earnings, but can’t exist without medical coverage. If he hasn’t found a job by the time we’re not eligible for COBRA anymore, what will we do?

He wants to be a teacher now – and would be an awesome one – but we need him to take any old job that provides health insurance. SAD.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Jennifer and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/27/2010

Bret from Kansas

I currently have health insurance. It is the only thing keeping me alive. However, I lost my job and am doing everything I can to keep that coverage – which is hard with no income.

I have reached out to every agency I can and keep hearing the same things. You don’t need help – you have insurance. I have HIV. Sixteen years on those medications have given me other disorders like diabetes and high cholesterol. All of which requires more medications. All of those medications still have Co-Pays.

I have switched everything I can to Generic and still the payments are about $150 a month… which I can’t afford and can’t get any help with. Even WITH INSURANCE I may have to make the decision to stop taking medication and deteriorate to the point of “needing help.”

Most agencies are willing to help with a one time need – maintenance drugs are a drain help agencies and charities can’t afford. I’ve been told that I can get more help when I’m sick but still on my maintenance drug (because otherwise, I would have made myself sick and be a waste of the investment to make me healthy again).

It’s like telling someone you have a box of band-aids but you won’t bother to peel the paper off one unless they’ve lost a limb and you’ll only use one to help stop the bleeding while they wait for a doctor.

I’m 43 years old – 16-year survivor of HIV – 5 years with maintained diabetes and never missed a day of work when I had a job.

I can’t get hired on where my skills can be used because of my age and “existing health concerns” when a “healthy” 20 to 30 year old will do the job for less money and no benefits. I’m in a Catch 22 Society.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Bret– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/28/2010

Vema from Kentucky

My daughter and her husband have been without health care for 8 years. Their daughter is 4 years old and has health care provided by Medicaid.

He has recently began to make enough money to support the family without help from family members and to save money to buy a house so they can move out of the home they live in that is provided by myself and my husband and to move the family closer than the 5-6 hours that he must drive to work now. Therefore a home is a priority before health care. It seems to me that health care should be a right given to every American.

We consider education, taxes, etc. to be a such a necessity that it is required by law, but not health care? I think it ranks right up there.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Vema and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/29/2010

Amy from Maine

We have a $15,000 deductible and my husband needs shoulder surgery. We are responsible self-employed people and are tired of having to ask doctors to give us a break.

Meanwhile we pay over $400 per month in premiums – which goes up close to 20% annually – and have to pay every doctors’ bill and prescription on top of that. Help!!!

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Amy and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/30/2010

Carolyn from Maryland

My daughter can not afford health insurance. Just yesterday she did not want to go to the hospital because of a tooth ache. Now she has an infection in her mouth because of a bad tooth. The infection could have gone to her brain.

A mother lost her young child a few years back because of this. No health insurance.

Something needs to be done. People are dying when this does not have to be happening. All because she knew she could not pay for the care she needed.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Carolyn and her daughter– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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1/31/2010

Will from Massachusetts

I am lucky to be a generally healthy person. I didn’t even really think much about health care, and even went without for a while. Then I had a son with spina bifida, and my education in the byzantine world of private health insurance began (and still continues).

The main problem with health care reform, as I see it, is that health care policy is made by those who are well, and who have the best health insurance and care that money can buy. I could not be more involved with my health care, and when I have to buy a policy with a 2 million dollar lifetime cap, that’s a problem. Two million dollars is a premature baby. Two million dollars is a couple of my son’s surgeries.

Ultimately, no one should have to worry about personal bankruptcy at the hands of the medical system. The only efficient way I see to achieve that is to remove profit from the health care system. We don’t run schools for profit – why do we take care of people for profit? The only way to achieve this is a single-payer system.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Will and his son– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/1/2010

Kristin from Michigan

I have a friend who is 58 years of age. She has BCBS and was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer. BCBS refused to cover the surgery citing that it was reproductive. Mind you she has never had any children and she is 58 and post menopausal.

When she got to the hospital she was ready to write a check with the line of credit she has on her house. The cost was over $20,000.

At this point the hospital employee told her to put away her check book and that they would fight it out with the insurance.

EVEN WITH INSURANCE YOU ARE NOT COVERED. We are all at risk and the only way to ensure a fair and balanced system that works for the good of all is Universal Health Care, for everyone!

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Kristin and her friend– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/2/2010

S.R. from Michigan

I notice the people who object to real change in healthcare either A) have healthcare and don’t believe they will lose it; or B) believe suffering happens to someone else and life is a competition so too bad for the other guy. Or perhaps some of them are just selfish and don’t believe their own good fortune and accomplishments are due in part to the work of people under them. (In the case of Congress, who enjoy premium health care FOR LIFE, they apparently owe nothing to the working stiffs who elected them.)

My husband, a teacher, got pink-slipped 2 years ago after 9-1/2 yrs; no jobs in the Midwest so he’s been teaching English in the Middle East for the last 2 yrs (no visits home). He makes enough for us to keep the house but that’s it. I have a college degree and 20+ yrs experience as well as a special needs child. I run a small non-profit for families.

Here in Michigan my area has 15.6% unemployment, so although I continue to care for people who can’t pay, there are few who can pay. I work hard and make very little money. Of course we have no health insurance. It took me 4 months to pay off the $120 to take my son to the doctor. I had to borrow money to buy the medication.

My parents are aghast that I don’t at least buy “disaster” health coverage. Well, I can pay my property taxes and keep a roof over our heads or I can pay for useless coverage that won’t keep me or my kids healthy, just prolong the agony if we get cancer etc. Those policies aren’t for healing health problems, just for paying the hospital and a physician or two for the first go-round; too bad after that.

I know because in the early ‘90s I paid $300/mo to BCBS for what turned out to be “carved out policy” that failed to cover half of the medically necessary coverage for my daughter’s femur break and the birth of my son. We cleaned out our savings to pay the hospital (first bill) and they forgave the rest. The rapacious service physicians (anesthesiology, radiology, etc.) were not content with small monthly payments so they took our house.

Did I mention that my daughter (5 yo then, 20yo now) could not get the necessary physical therapy for the 1” difference in her legs? She will have trouble all her life with the skeletal stresses. That makes great economic sense, doesn’t it.

I’m not lazy. My husband is not lazy. We don’t expect a handout. We contribute to society as do our older children. The fact that we contribute in fields not valued by capitalism and the rich doesn’t mean we have no value. It doesn’t mean our children are of less value than those of the wealthy. What is lacking is a sense that we are in this together. Why on earth should businesses be required to shoulder the burden of health care??? Their job is to compete successfully in the marketplace. Health care is not primarily a capitalistic enterprise. If you want to get rich, you need to compete in the business arena (e.g., plastic surgery, for all the capitalistic physicians out there, Hollywood caps and bleaching for like-minded dentists).

Many other countries have put us to shame by finding systems that use 7-9% of their GDP – a little less than HALF what we spend. They aren’t perfect systems but nobody in those countries ends up with no health care at all as we do here. The rich are all free to access the best care with additional money and/or insurance, so there is no forcing of citizens to accept “government quality” care. Ask yourselves, who do you hear objecting to switching to one of those systems? What do they gain from keeping things as they are (which means nearly all of you readers, regardless of your current situation, have no secure access to decent health care)?

There are many legitimate political and moral viewpoints about quality of life issues. I urge you to step beyond whatever yours might be and look at the big picture – are a THIRD of the lives of our fellow citizens worth nothing? Not even the most basic care? Is the ability to maintain one’s health a matter of discretionary spending, on a par with a vacation or new car? Was Scrooge correct that workers who are paid little constitute the “surplus population” and can best serve their communities by dying off? I think we are better than that. I hope I live long enough to see us change.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for S.R. and family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/3/2010

Anne from Minnesota

Critics of health care reform often say it will interfere with the patient/doctor relationship. Baloney. That relationship is compromised under the current system. My husband was prescribed medication when he had Alzheimer’s back in 1997, but I had to petition the insurance company, and it took months before it was approved (lost time).

I have had medication prescribed and had the pharmacist use an alternative that was not as good because the prescribed drug was not on the “approved” list. My doctor has said a test would be good, but warned me insurance might not pay for it. The insurance companies are dictating my health care.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Anne and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/4/2010

Susan from Mississippi

I am 58 years old, divorced and live alone. I work as a social worker with a masters degree and still have a ton of college loans and other bills.

I have multiple medical problems which have worsened over the past year to the point that my doctor is about to do cancer testing.

It is hard working with the fatigue, etc. but I do it. I’m afraid of what will happen if I need to miss work and run up the medical bills that are left over after insurance payments. As it is, the co-payments and labs that aren’t covered by insurance are a huge burden. I am fortunate now to have a job with insurance, but as we know, this can change at anytime.

I also have a 35 y/o daughter who is trying to build a career for herself in the cosmetology field. She has no insurance and doesn’t make enough money to buy it. People like her need help as they are the ones who suffer when severe illness strikes. She cannot afford to go to the doctor and is having a medical issue that needs attention.

The government needs to get on top of this problem and provide the proper healthcare for everyone!

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Susan and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/5/2010

Katherine from Missouri

My husband and I are both employed but forced into private insurance, and thus pay almost $1,400/ month for our family of three. This is more than our rent! And we need help from our parents just to be able to afford it.

One reason our health insurance is so expensive is that I need maternity coverage on my policy, since I want to have another baby. There is no private insurance with maternity coverage for less than $600/month. This is simply unconscionable and grounds for sexual discrimination by the insurance companies. The pricing gap between group plans and individual plans is just outrageous.

It is long past time to divorce health insurance from employment status in this country – the old model of working full-time for one company for years simply does not exist any more. Today’s workers, especially women, have different needs.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Katherine and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/6/2010

David from Montana

The price of health care has been killing this economy for decades now, and I’m one who is just an uninsured hospital visit from bankruptcy.

Fixing this will do wonders for fixing everything else about the current economy and a business as usual failure to address this will become a major reason our economic recovery fails. Just Bush’s prescription drug legislation will bankrupt us in less than 10 years if we fail to lower the cost of health case. I refuse to accept my country committing suicide as a solution. Knock it off!

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for David– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/7/2010

Jenny from Nebraska

It’s not just the poor who need help: I am a highly educated woman, who has gone into business for herself as a mental health practitioner. This has allowed me to set my own hours and be with my child more.

However, if my husband did not have health coverage through his job, this option would not have been possible. I would be stuck at an agency job, working 50 hours a week and being away from my family, just to have health insurance. I know this because as a person with a visual impairment, I have been turned away from buying private insurance in the past. The condition I have, juvenile macular degeneration, is not treatable and there is no ongoing treatment that any insurance carrier would have to pay for. However, this condition, as well as headaches and a past ovarian cyst, have been used against me to keep me from accessing private insurance. It is only because of my spouse, that I can work for myself and still have health insurance.

This type of situation is far too common among highly educated professionals who have worked hard and deserve to be able to forge their own career path, but the inaccessibility and prohibitive cost of coverage for anyone who has a health condition prohibits many from pursuing their dreams. This is shameful for the country that prides itself on the opportunities available for its people.

My point is that it is not only our country’s poor individuals who struggle with the cost of health care. This issue affects everyone. Hard working people are struggling and making life decisions based on the health coverage they have.

It is time for this to stop. We need a health care plan that can meet the needs of all Americans, not just the CEOs of the insurance companies.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Jenny– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

***

2/8/2010

Julene from New Jersey

We maintain that everyone in the U.S. has a right to legal representation. As a highly regarded physician who works with victims of violence pointed out to me, “Why isn’t everyone in this country also afforded the right to medical representation?” Isn’t that common sense and a moral imperative?

It seems that the health industry and policymakers are finally open to doing something because the sheer costs of inefficiency and inequality are taking their toll on the U.S. economy. Let’s all vote. Those who stand in the way of progress and common sense need to leave Washington, D.C.!

We hope those in the health industry as well as DC hear you! Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Julene– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

***

2/9/2010

Gaia from New Mexico

As a mother and a healthcare professional I believe that we need to take profit out of the healthcare equation.

We can do without the new pill that is just two old drugs that the patents have expired on rolled into one pill and sold under a brand new patent. We can do without the extras when we are ill with preventable diseases in exchange for real preventive primary care. We can do without sending a huge portion of our paychecks to hospital CEO’s.

Our nation cannot afford to continue healthcare for profit. We cannot afford to have the highest infant mortality rate of any developed nation. We cannot afford to have the highest rates of diabetes and obesity in the world.

We can not stand by while people having heart attacks tell paramedics that they can not afford to go to the hospital because they have no insurance and they will lose everything and say that if they die at least their life insurance will help the family not just go to medical bills. We must raise our voices to our leaders and DEMAND that EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN MAN WOMAN AND CHILD have the access to healthcare that they need.

This is not about freedom, and patients rights as some ads would have you believe. It is about the basic necessity or healthcare that every American has a RIGHT to as a citizen of the richest nation in the world and as a human being.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Gaia– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

***
2/10/2010

Barbara from New York

I am a 63 year old widow with a 25 year old disabled son. I pay $740/month out of my pocket + an additional $571 for uncovered items & copays – for a total of $1,251/month.

Since the downturn in the economy, my business income has gone down but my healthcare expenses (as well as other expenses) have not. I’ve been dipping into my retirement savings. The free falling stock market has made even those hard earned saving plummet. It’s clear we have to do something and I believe Pres. Obama has the will, the leadership & the competence to make things happen. Those who oppose him need to take a hard look at their reasons why and make sure ego and self interests are put aside.

My son is a productive member of society, largely because I have (till now) been able to afford the care he’s needed. Without it, he would likely go on some kind of public assistance.

It reminds me of the saying “pay me now, pay me later”. What we don’t seem to realize is that not having universal affordable & portable healthcare is not a luxury. Its absence results in inevitable costs in other places.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Barbara and her son– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/11/2010

Kari from North Carolina

My husband and I are self-employed and institution-hired teachers, and we each work around 50 hours a week. We are conscientious consumers, and we make enough money to hold down a reasonable mortgage and feed and clothe ourselves and our 3-year-old son. Both of our cars are paid off and over 15 years old. We cannot afford a full coverage health plan. We’ve been paying $180 per month for several years for a health plan that only covers catastrophic illness or injury. When I had a bicycle accident last fall and broke my jaw, we accrued medical debt of about $2,000.

All of that will eventually come out of our pockets, because the catastrophic health plan has a $5,000 deductible. That plan was all we could afford, and we’ve just cancelled it. If we had saved the amount of the premium for those years instead of paying for a plan that has never covered our needs, we would have had more than enough to pay for my ambulance and hospital bills last fall.

My husband and I have skipped yearly exams and have stayed home and suffered when we were sick, because we simply can’t afford additional doctor’s bills. We’d love to have health insurance, but it’s a luxury we simply can’t afford.

When health insurance is considered a luxury, we know this system is broken. Let’s raise our voices in Congress NOW, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Kari and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/12/2010

Amy from Ohio

I made the decision to work part-time after my second child was born. Because of this decision, I am punished by not receiving health insurance. I work for city government. We have over 8,000 employees and my employer does not offer insurance to its part-time employees. How is this a family friendly America???

Good question, Amy! Let’s raise our voices in Congress NOW, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Amy and her family– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/13/2010

Kathryn from Oklahoma

As a Family Physician, I see people every day who are unable to afford the health care they need. This leads to worsening illnesses like diabetes, hospitalizations that could have been avoided, and premature deaths.

The current health care “system” wastes an incredible amount of money on prior authorizations for needed procedures, medications, and referrals.

A single payer plan would be the most cost effective way to manage our health care. In the absence of the will to achieve that, a public plan which would not have the tremendous overhead costs of the for-profit insurance companies must be part of health care reform.

Thank you for sharing your perspective as a physician, Kathryn. Let’s raise our voices in Congress NOW, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Kathryn — and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/14/2010

Kristina from Oregon

I don’t even know where to begin with what is wrong with our healthcare system!! Unless I can find work in another department of HHS, I lose my benefits every summer. I cannot afford the COBRA to carry us through. My husband’s insurance is just as expensive as the COBRA when we put the 3 kids on, with less coverage. Almost half of my salary goes to premiums and deductibles. Here is the funny part: I work in the healthcare industry.

I do have some thing to share that is positive. I work for a part of our local health and human services department called “School Based Health Centers”. They are nationwide. We provide services to school aged kids (K-12, and home schooled) and we do not bill to see students. We try to get insurance info and bill that, but if the deductable has not been met we do not balance bill parents. It is worth checking into for your area.

Thank you for sharing this valuable information, Kristina. Let’s raise our voices in Congress NOW, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Kristina– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/15/2010

Patricia from Pennsylvania

Health insurance should not be a business for profit and it should mirror the system based on Medicare.

Opponents state that you cannot choose which Doctor you go to, what treatment you receive, where you can go, especially if it is out-of-state; also that you would wait a long period of time for appointments or surgeries. All supposed horrors if we go to a single payer public system. Do they not live in the real world? That all takes place under the system we have now. When I need to see a specialist it takes months; even seeing my PCP takes weeks and sometimes months to see her.

Since it is a clinic with many Doctors and a Nurse Practitioner I can get in if it is a serious infection in a shorter time frame. Nevertheless, the health system as it is now is not working and it is prohibitively expensive for many people.

Yes, I know that my taxes will help fund this type of system but it has to be better than the way we are paying for it now; which in the end costs more as 40 million plus people have to go to emergency rooms and/or wait until their health has deteriorated to the point of no return. It is much more expensive to treat than if they could have gotten help in the beginning.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress NOW, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Patricia– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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2/25/2010

Michael from South Carolina

Health care is currently a noose around the neck of our country. People have to make choices between food, clothing, shelter and health care. Health care will always lose. How is that fair to the children and others who have no control?

Health is used by big businesses to keep workers in line – for working for a big business is the only way to afford most health care. And many still don’t help! My wife works at Wal-Mart and the health insurance that will be available to her is worse than a joke. It is nearly criminal.

Please, if you want to take care of our future generations, the real need is health care. Energy, foreign affairs, and Paris Hilton don’t matter a thing if we can’t provide affordable basic health care to the population.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress NOW, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Michael– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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3/15/2010

Ruth from South Dakota

I am an educator in SD, who currently makes less than the retired couple commenting above. [This was from the original story blog post.]

That being said I have absolutely no problem with my federal income taxes being raised to 33% for universal health care for all. I currently pay over $200 dollars a month out of pocket over what the school pays with a $1,000 deductable for my husband and myself. I don’t want something for nothing, but I truly believe we need this in this country. Too many are suffering.

Let’s raise our voices in Congress NOW, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Ruth– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.

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3/16/2010

Deborah from Tennessee

As an RN, I am very much aware of how our current health care system effects the everyday lives and wellbeing of families and individuals alike. In my past twenty-five years of practice, I have seen too many families forced into bankruptcy when a child or other family member requires hospitalization for any length of time.

Reform is absolutely vital, for the health of our people and for the health of our economy. I don’t understand. For the past eight years, no one has attempted to remedy this huge financial drain or, to in any way repair a failing system. Now, someone is and Congress appears to object.

We are sick of the bickering, the obstruction. We demand that our representatives improve attempts to work with our current administration rather than against it. We want and need Congress to do something to demonstrate why “we the people” bother to elect them. Now is the time to prove to America that you are truly committed to working on their behalf. Do not block or prolong this necessity.

More wisdom from health professionals. Let’s raise our voices in Congress NOW, and light a candle at our homes tonight for Deborah and her patients– and for everyone to live in a healthy country.