Guaranteed Healthcare

Riding my bicycle home from work after a night shift, I crashed after someone opened their door from a parked car. My bike and I were a bit banged up, but I didn't make a big deal of it. I took care of the bike myself and figured I'd heal OK. She was a college student and I figured she didn't need the headache for a simple mistake.

My father was a successful and ethical lawyer. He started his own law firm in Arizona and at the time of his retirement his firm had approximately 40 partners and around 100 employess, who were all insured. It was soon after his retirement that he had a recurrence of lung cancer. The insurance company that insured him after he had retired from his firm denied him coverage for treatment.

Back in 2007 I retired from 30 years of nursing to care for my Mother who died in Jan 2008. I tried to obtain cobra insurance and they quoted me a monthly cost of $580.00. I was in shock and with my limited income could not afford that much. I am in good health with only a mildly elevated cholesterol and beginning osteoporosis.

I need surgery for a life threatening condition and my HMO wants me to see a doctor that has only done the surgery one time ever. I have been appealing and in the mean time I am on ever increasing morphine for pain. My jaw is fused shut and there is a danger of brain being exposed because of bone loss. My HMO is Blue Care Network of Michigan

My husband was in the Air Force and is getting excellent care. I worked for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals and was promised health care, but it was diminished every year, and I now pay $460 a month for a bridge loan! Has become unaffordable!

Hello, My name is Jerone Garland Im from Kosicusko, Ms. living in Chicago, IL was taking care of my grandfather until his death. He stayed on the second flour were it was hard for me to get up and down the stairs. About 8 Years ago my right knee was pop out of socket. So it extremly hard for me to walk with NO Ins.

I am self employed;55;and have high deductible health insurance which might actually be of some benefit when I'm on my death bed. I'm also very frugal by nature so the last thing I want to do is spend money that I don't have to. The result....I never go to the doctor. If I did, I couldn't tell that I actually had whatever coverage blue shield gives me for $300.00/month.

In 2000, my mother developed a serious lung infection and difficulty breathing. She was taken to the local hospital, where she was cared for in the ICU for a day or two, then moved to an ordinary room for a day. Upon release, she was given a bill for approximately $40,000 and asked to pay upon receipt.

This is the second time in my life that I have been without insurance. The first time my children was 7 and 5 years old. My 7 year old broke both of her arms and was airlifted to another state. My husband and I had to file for bankruptcy to save us. Now my girls are 17 and 15 and again we are without insurance because of the economy.

I had a pain in my stomach. I am 74 and I have no insurance. I went to the emergency room of the Marin General Hospital, Larkspur, California. I was diagnosed with diverticulitis. I was prescribed medicine but was then sent to have a CT scan. At no time was I told of the cost of the scan. About two weeks later I was presented with a bill for $8,000.00 which I am unable to pay.

I am a 48 year old male. For the past 12 years I have been a independent contractor. I have been in sales my entire life, it's all I know. I have had insurance in the past but had to drop it due to the slow down.

As a pharmacy technician at a national retail pharmacy chain, I feel blessed and emotionally exhausted at the same time. I feel blessed that I have a job at a union store that negotiated for me a great package of benefits compared to what most Americans have or rather, what they do not have. I get satisfaction knowing that I help raise people's quality of life through my work.

I have three health insurance horror stories in my immediate family alone. Including an uncle whose HMO allowed him to die from prostate cancer (which I've since been told is easily treatable, but treatment was delayed or denied until he died.)

We are relatively healthy people, need to lose a some weight, but our blood pressure is good and we eat healthy food. But if my husband is let go we will not have health insurance. With the hit our 401K took in the last six months, we don't know how we are going to make it all stretch much less insure ourselves.

On March 18, 2009 while walking to Septa station to take train to Philadephia, PA to work, I had a bad skid and a bad fall. I could not get up due to excruciating pain in my right lower leg. I had to call 911 to reach the nearest hospital. Ambulance came to my help within 2 minutes.

I have worked most of my life in another country. Upon becoming a US citizen I had to get health care from a private company. I have only worked part time jobs, paid SS and Medicare premiums but do not have the necessary time to get Medicare.

My daughter Zoe was born in August of 2004. Prior to her birth, she was diagnosed with severe heart defects; hypoplastic right ventricle, pulmonary valve atresia, and Ebstein's Anomaly. These defects are known as "single ventricle defects" and are among the most complex group of heart defects known.

My name is Ingrid, and I have been employed at the Matheny Medical and Educational Center for the last 18 years. We have always had good insurance coverage at a reasonable cost. My husband is self-employed and so relies on my coverage.

I have had a chronic problem with asthma and recently it had gotten worse. I went to see a doctor, and they charged me double than a patient with insurance . Then I go to the pharmacy and end up paying 20 percent more than someone with health insurance .

I just want to list all the people around me in the last six months who have needed healthcare, but been worried about the costs or been uninsured.

Out of work since January '07 when two discs herniated. Spent a year and lots of money in co-pays for useless rehab, chiropractor, pain management, MRI's, X-Rays, blood tests..... January '08 disc ruptured causing severe pain and nerve damage...no longer able to walk or have a bm without enema. March '08 saw a neurosurgeon in another town who would take my insurance.

In 1988, I was diagnosed with M.S. I had no insurance then, but it hadn't gotten bad yet. Luckily for me, I was seeing a wonderful man who shortly afterward got a job with Microsoft Corp. He asked me to marry him, and we moved to Seattle. Bill Gates was very generous with benefits to his employees, so I was covered under my husband's insurance.

My name is Joyce, and I am 34 years old. I am the mother of four, and I have breast cancer. My husband works for a pest control company and their work is self insured. We pay $450 a month for our insurance. I was diagnosed on my 34th birthday.

Dec. 08 out of the clear blue sky, my lower back hurt with pain down my leg. My out of town son-in-law is an RN and he said it's Sciatic Nerve. I worked full time and was trying to build my own business. My full time job would not let me off work to see about this and it only got worse. I was crying every day, using a walker some days and a cane on other days. Finally Feb.

For the past 4 years, I have not been able to work in my trade construction because I had a heart attack, stent and while recuperating from that I got rheumatoid arthritis. Because I had no insurance I was unable to see the doctors I should have so did not get the medical help needed. I am 51 yrs of age and my parents who are in their 70's have been doing what they can for me.

To Whom It May Concern,

My husband was laid off this year, I had health insurance through my husbands job, but now that he is laid off I don't have any medical insurance, my husband was able to get insurance because he is a veteran and he has insurance through the VA, I tried to get insurance through the county, but the financial counselor " said our income was to much," so now I am looking around for ot

My 8 year old step-grandson had some sort of neurological event when he awoke today. He was seen to be "twitching", drooling, unable to speak, no control of tongue which lasted at least 4 minutes. No prior history, no precipitating factors. His mom took him to the ER but by the time they got there, his symptoms had resolved. He had bloodwork drawn which all came back normal.

I work for a county hospital three days a week and one day a week at a Sutter Affiliate. I am a full time Masters of Nursing student and I am struggling to pay for my employer sponsored health insurance. husband is physically unable to take a job.I pay $700.00 plus a month(deducted from my pay check) to cover my family (Premiums)with PacifiCare HMO health insurance.

I'm living without insurance for years. I run a couple of small non-profits and the money is simply not there to provide coverage. I work to help people have the best possible chance to survive and thrive, despite infections like HIV and chronic hepatitis.

My college educated daughter has worked for several small businesses who either did not provide an option for health insurance or offered very limited insurance benefits. At her last job, when she became pregnant and was going to use the insurance for the first time, she was told she was no longer needed at the job.

I had chronic, severe shoulder and arm pain beginning in 2003. It took multiple MRI's and a nearly catastrophic misdiagnosis which almost led to surgery to remove a disc in my neck before correctly being diagnosed with a torn rotator cuff and having the correct surgery...FIVE full years later (2008).

I've been HIV+ since 1995. Careless belief in a person's honesty has left me devestated on so many levels. I'm not looking for sympathy, for everyone dies. I am only looking for what every modern country has, accecss to Universal Health Care. Today, the only reason I am alive is because I prostitute myself to Corporate America.

I am a long-time Nevada resident and a US citizen by birth. I am 36 years old and have a genetic disorder called Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1). Mine is a very mild case that does not generally affect me in day-to-day life. (More info here: www.understandingnf1.org)

Currently I'm on COBRA and attempted to get Individual Insurance. Little did I know a few Migraine Headaches, acid indigestion treated with Zantac, and a dialation of the urethra over a 12 month period would not get you insurance. I'm 47 years old and nothing major is wrong with me. If every 47 year old had these few small ailments, our healthcare system would be in great shape.

I was the HR Administrator for a company that recently closed operations. All employees lost their healthcare and dental coverage and were not informed of this until several days after the fact. There were employees who received heathcare/dental services in that time period thinking they were covered and were not.

I am 22 years old and I am currently in school and working toward my RN degree. I have been a CNA for 5 years and work through a registry so I am self employed and don't receive health insurance. I was recently kicked off my Dads insurance and I am paying for school all by myself.

When I found out my group coverage was ending,I was on my own. Here is a synopsis of the events that have occurred with my attempts to obtain health coverage with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida:

Our little community-based nonprofit clinic is having more and more trouble staying alive due to the increasingly insane medical insurance process. We can't get medications and services are routinely denied. We spend about a half a day on paperwork for every day we see patients. It is getting so bad we don't know if we will survive.

I have had a seizure disorder for the past 35 yrs... beginning when I was 18 yrs. old. This has caused me great distress (depression, anxiety, eventual divorce etc.) and I have had a difficult time keeping jobs due to such condition. I have a bachelor's degree in history/education but have not been successful in maintaing steady work in that field either.

My husband is a kidney transplant patient due to polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Because he is self-employed in real estate (and we all know that market is in the tank)and uninsurable, I carry him on my health care plan where pre-existing conditions are not considered for eligibility to receive benefits. Micro-management of patients and health-care professionals is a major issue for us.

Catastrophes in my family directly affected me as person on a personal level. I am self-insured,and not working, after being fired from my job due to Post Traumatic Stress disorder after losing every member of my immediate family, one was my oldest son. My only other child fell victim to violence causing further catastrophic stress disorder.

I am on SSI and can't get a doctor in Nevada County no one will accept it and the parasites at Med- Cal tell me I have full coverage for where. I mean god forbid how can George Bush point his fingers at other peoples of the world and call them evil doers when handicapped can't even get access?

Evil Doers-- and no one has any back bone to stand up to these evil doers.

I was diagnosed a year and a half ago with HPV and had grade II and II abnormal cells. I enhanced my diet (strictly vegan), took supplements and reversed the HPV and averted getting cervical cancer. This October after leaving my job, I applied to Assurant for health insurance.

After becoming laid off in 2003 I carried COBRA @ $500 per month for two people for allotted time, then the exact same policy became over $1,200 per month and the soon became $1,700 per month for the exact same two healthy people we made the decision to become un insured for the first time in our lives which was both scary and embarrassing.

I'm a 51 year old male who is healthy -- no family history of health problems, I'm in great condition, a runner, perfect height to weight proportion, work out daily, don't smoke, don't drink, and take responsibility for my health. One year ago I got laid off from my job, and the same day my cat died (that I had for 13 years).

I am a family doctor and this is the story about one of my patients. He suffered a hernia related to work. Surgery was done via workers' comp. After the case was closed he developed a late complication and now he needs a monthlong series of interventional anesthesiology procedures to deal with the problem. The problem is..... each insurer says the other should pay.

My friend Jahine Arnold is a former NFL player who was diagnosed with Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) disorder of the liver in August of 2007 and has done everything humanly possible including depleting all his resources to defeat a silent of unknown cause and origin that took the life of Walter Payton in just eight months of diagnosis.

My 18 year old daughter died Oct 4, 2007, at UCLA Med Center awaiting a liver transplant. She was diagnosed at 11 years old with Autoimmune Hepatitis which is a disease where the immune system attacks the liver. We were told she needed a transplant.

My husband of a few months and fiance for a year has sever NASH a deadly liver disease and to top if off it has caused severe diabetes. He has suffered for over two-and-a-half years with the disease.

I was the breadwinner in our household. My job provided our income and insurance. Unfortunately, approximately to years ago I became disabled due to debilitating migraines that I now know are caused by an incurable heart condition.

Please support HR 676 and Congress's health plan for the uninsured - it is so important. I'm single and have not had health insurance since I was in grad school-- I've waitressed and freelanced at magazines. Now I have a chronic health condition and am unable to pay for my health or living expenses.

I honestly don't know what happened. I don't remember if I had Medicaid before I had my job or after I lost it, but I just found out a few weeks ago that I don't have it anymore. The caseworker told me that I was only supposed to have Medicaid until the insurance for my new job kicked in.

On November 20th I went in for some tests because I was having pains in my abdomen. I was pretty convinced it was gallbladder. which it turned out to be. However in the process of finding that out, they also found a solid tumor on my left kidney.

I was a non-traditional student with an advanced degree who decided to change careers and become a pharmacist. At the ripe old age of 52 I matriculated at UCSF School of Pharmacy in 2003. I worked hard and love my new profession and am currently employed as a clinical specialist pharmacist at a major hospital in Virginia.

Demoralized Citizen of The United States of America

By: Shawn M. Steinschreiber EMT-I, BLS-I, F.F.

I was diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer in August 2007. Since then, I have had radiation therapy, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy.

My wife and I were unemployed. I had a kidney stone attack and was rushed to emergency rm. We begged the doc to just x-ray but he chose CAT Scan. It has been almost three years, and we are still trying to pay off $3,000 bill. X-ray would have been $75. I've had kidney stone attacks prior and the X-ray showed the stones fine before.

I am 34 and the mother of four children under the age of 14. Two months ago I found a lump in my breast and went to my doctor who confirmed there was a lump there. After going to a breast surgeon and having a diagnostic mammogram, breast MRI and numerous blood test we decided the best thing for me to do was have a mastectomy.

I am a full time college student and a new mom. I don't work and have no medical insurance. I need to see my heart doctor for a follow up and to tell him that I feel worse but already can't pay my bill there so I can't go.

My name is Crystal, and I am 20 years old. At the beginning of this year (2008) I finally got health insurance. I had to wait to be eligible by my work.

I am thankful everyday that I have an employer that allowed me to get health insurance for the first time in 7 years. I am 29 years old, and have a blood condition called ITP. I don't know how I got it, but, I am stuck with a moody unpredictable auto-immune condition.

I was promised lifetime insurance by Gannett (USA Today). In May Gannett farmed out billing to AETNA and refused to take my check. AETNA had no record of me. The only informed person I talked to said that AETNA only did Gannett's COBRA account.

My daughter had had high blood pressure, and could not afford health care insurance. She was raising five children on her own working many long hour days, to provide for them. She tried to get on access, but they told her she made three dollars too much to qualify. She died May, 19th 2006 of a massive stroke, she was only 36 years old,if she had had insurance she may be alive today.

Well, I went to find out why I'm having problems with my stomach, and they let me get the test done.  So when it was time for me to go back and see the doctor they wouldn't see me because I didn't have money to give so I still don't know.

My two granddaughters are having medical problems (anxiety, panic attacks, chest pains, and etc.) due to a very traumatic childhood. They are 26 and 23 years old with children of their own. One is a mother at home and the other is a preschool assistant. Neither of them can get medical help and cannot afford health insurance.

I am a 27 year old female who has recently been diagnosed with brain cancer. In fact, the same type as Ted Kennedy himself.