Guaranteed Healthcare

Young Mom, Wife's Coverage Costs as Much as Mortgage

"My husband was notified that he was being laid off. Bad news considering the economy, but he's well qualified, and we have hope that he'll find a good job soon," said Kellie Rockey of Denver, Colo.  "Luckily his company gave him two weeks' notice and two months of severance which means our current insurance will last a little while longer.

"My husband is in the tech field and so in any job hunting situation, one avenue of employment is always 'contract' which nearly always means no benefits. Here is the situation for us: Our COBRA payments required to keep our health insurance coverage are nearly equal to our house payment.

"Two house payments? I'm scared to death. My husband has transposition of the great arteries, a congenital heart defect. He's in good health (knock on wood) but his doctors all conclude that it is just a matter of time before he needs a heart transplant. I have asthma, which landed me in ICU for a week during my pregnancy, and we have a little son who is 2 years old (thankfully he's in good health, too – knocking again).

"In order to afford the COBRA payments, I told my husband to take me off because it would be $800 instead of $1,600 a month. He said no, because of the ICU thing in 2005, and we can't take our son off because he needs his well baby checks. And we absolutely cannot take my husband off because if something happened it would be catastrophic. So what do we pay? Our COBRA payments or house payments? What if, when the time comes, our insurance won't cover his heart transplant?"

Sponsored by the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee

Eighty-two percent of Americans think the U.S. healthcare system should be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt (Commonwealth Fund, Aug. 7, 2008). America's nurses know that only single-payer, improved and expanded Medicare for all will fix our broken system and the tragedy of our devastated families. HR 676, by U.S. Rep John Conyers, is the most comprehensive, cost effective way to achieve guaranteed healthcare for all.