Share Your Story: What do preventive health services with no co-pays or deductibles mean to you?

I have never had medical insurance as an adult.  I do not believe in the medical industry that exists in the US.  It would be a good thing if we really had health care based on evidenciary science and not what the drug and chemical corporations foist on us.  There are times when getting a meaningful diagnosis would have been helpful such as the lower back pain that has plagued me since an auto accident last year.  There is no way I can afford the runaround between so-called specialists who might diagnose the problem.  All they want to do is give drugs which I would not touch.  They don't heal; only supress and then do additional harm.   What would be meaningful is full access to all healing protocols including the holisitic ones.  Without such health freedom access, medical insurance is a very scarey and unaffordable prospect.

It really upsets me to know that there are so many Americans that do without health care. Many lose their wealth and their health because of this.  That is a disgrace to America workers.  I have worked all my life, once I started having medical issues the employers wanted me out.   Just because some of us have health issues does not mean that we can not be productive in society.,  Nor should it be a leverage for employers to be able to get rid of a employee.  There is not an Amercian that does not need health insurance.  It should have nothing to do with who you are, race, age, ethnic, etc.  It is wrong for women to have the same job as a male but not have insurance.  That is discrimination and I have been discriminated against in this manner.  Health care needs and over haul so that Amercans can get medical assistance.  It is about saving lifes not losing them because America health Insurance System needs overhauled.   Women or children should not  be punished just because they are from single parent families.  Wake up Washington you are hurting Americans and the deversity that America is about.  God please help our health care system save lifes not hurt lifes and their families.    I have spoke to many elderly that have worked all their life but they have to do without because our health system is failing Americans.

I am disabled and live on a very limited income. I do have medicaid which helps alot, don't get me wrong. My housing and utilities takes up 3/4 of my income. I take 34 pills a day. My co pays come up to $150 a month. After I pay rent and utilities i have $50 a month. Even with the help of the pharmacy helping me by letting me pay what I can I cannot make it. I almost have my house paid off (in 3 years) but the doctors have taken me off everything except what I absolutely have to have. Why isn't there a provision for disabled people with these co-pays. Alot of times you have to chose which ones can I skip this month. I have no car so medicaid provides me with transportation to the doctors but there is co-pays. How can you call this living?

   I am a 62 year old woman who has been forced into early retirement. I lost my job in March of 2010 and have been looking for work ever since without success. I have worked hard all my adult life, sometimes 60-70 hours a week and even crossed thresholds twice as being the first woman in my company to do a certain job. I also owned my own business for 10 years.   When my husband  and I both got laid off, we decided to move from Oregon to Ohio to help my mom who has alzheimers. When I arrived here, I began the search for a doctor, as I am diabetic and need prescription drugs to help control the disease. My first shock was that I couldn't get a doctor to take me without insurance, even though I offered to pay up front. It took 2 years and months without medication to find someone who would take me, even though I have excellent credit!  Now, after going to school to be re-trained, my husband has a fairly good job and therefore I believed I would have insurance after his 90 days were satisfied. Now I find out there is a $5000 deductable and because of my "pre-existing condition" I would need to pay $300/month for a year before they will cover anything related to diabetes! Well, everything is related to diabetes! I am in shock and refuse to pay this much money for nothing! The insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and our medical system in general has become morally bankrupt in my opinion. So, now it will be 2014 before the law requires them to cover me and that's only if Obama gets re-elected. And, I don't even know if by then it will be illegal to have a $5000 deductable!   It is my humble opinion that we needed a public option, better yet-single payer not for profit! I believe that hospitals should be not for profit. I believe that morally bankrupt insurance companies have created a situation that will ultimately cause them to become extinct and they deserve it! We are the only industrialized country in the world that doesn't believe that healthcare is a basic human right and that is only because of the influence of these powerful corporations on our political system. We have gone from a country of compassion and integrity to a country that puts profit over people and it sickens me to watch this evolution of immorality.   My hope is that the American people will wake up and fight not only to keep the Affordable Care Act, but to evolve it into Medicare for all. In the meantime, I am hoping that it will eventually help me.Until then I will use as much alternative and natural medicine as possible and pray that I don't ever need hospitalization!I am afraid for my country and will continue to fight to get corporate influence out of our government. We are fast becoming a plutocracy and I fear the worst if Mitt Romney gets elected and follows through on turning the power and money back over to the "job creators" who are creating jobs in China!