Where is the help for people in need of individual health insurance?

[NW Admin]

I am self-employed. Have been for probably 10 years now. All this time I have battled with the hardships of obtaining, affording, and using personal individual health insurance. It's hard. It really really is hard. I have not had any insurance all this time because I can't afford it.

It's ridiculous to me that our country does not take care of it's people. In other countries, healthcare is paid for through taxes. No one is turned away for ANY REASON, no one has to pay more then another person, and there is NO HEALTH INSURANCE! Everyone helps take care of each other by paying taxes. Now the American way of thinking is that no one wants to pay taxes. Everyone hates the IRS. Well, I think that if we ran things differently and actually saw the benefits of the taxes at work, then we would see a different light. Do you know how many people who are hard workers, deserve good health care, get sick or injured, and then are bankrupt and lose everything because they got sick/injured? The numbers are sickening. It's not lazy people who don't want to work that are suffering from this, it's everyone who has to work hard for a living. You could be making $100,000 per year, have health insurance, be doing everything right... you get sick or injured in a way that either your insurance can deny the claim or they only pay a small percentage... everything you worked for goes down the drain. You end borrowing money to get by and soon you lose your home, your cars, and your dignity. Everything, wiped out just like that. And on top of it, you are sick and there is nothing you can do about it.

I grew up to believe that people are supposed to take care of each other. We are not doing that. Doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and insurance companies are raping us of money and life and it has to stop.

I have requested quotes here and there throughout the years for health insurance. Every time, I have to pass on it because I can't afford it. Now don't get me wrong, I do make money. I live in a nice small home in a nice neighborhood. I work hard. But I still can't afford it. So everyday, for years, I have had to chance my life and well being by not having insurance. What's funny to me is that I applied once without mentioning that I took over the counter allergy medication, then the next time I got a quote I did. Me telling them that I took over the counter allergy medication caused a HUGE spike in the monthly payment. It didn't matter that I was buying the stuff from the grovery store that is not prescription and not covered by insurance... they still saw it as a possibillity that I might one day decide to seek treatment for my allergies. And therfor, they were "justified" in sucking more money out of me.

So I married almost 2 years ago. My husband got a new job last February. He just got his health insurance paperwork because he has worked there for the required 30 days. We were both excited about it because now we could both get health insurance. Well, our happiness was quickly smashed when we saw that to add just me (a healthy, fit, non-smoker) would cost an additional $250 per month... ON TOP OF his $88 for him! There is NO WAY we can afford that! What's the point? That will drain us financially... sick or not. So I am back to considering the private insurance again.

Well, because of all this nonsense, I am in search of another job that has good benefits. That is even hard to find these days. No one wants to offer them anymore and a lot of the smaller companies can't afford it either.

My husband and I want to have a child. We don't have any and are both 29 years old. It infuriates me that no one can COMFORTABLY and SAFELY have a child in this country without having great insurance, plenty of money, OR be flat broke, unemployed, and on welfare. It has to be one or the other. You can't just be in the middle like we are. Trying to work hard and not take advantage of government freebies, but not getting anywhere at the same time because we still don't make enough money. I honestly am starting to think that if you can't be rich... be unemployed. At least when you are unemployed with a child, the government suddenly wants to help.

I love America. We have so much here that other people don't. But I have actually considered leaving it for a country whose government takes care of it's people. Where you don't have to worry about getting sick/injured and no one being there to help you.

Things need to change. I am tired of hearing from this president and that president that things are going to get better. Let's see some results already. I truly hope that whoever is elected next, is serious about making this better. This is not acceptable.