"I didn't have health insurance again until this year when I began working for Apple. I had a relapse and this time my blood went even lower to 2,000 platelets which is extremely dangerous. Another week in the hospital, and only transfusions of IVIG, I am still not responding to the Prednisone which has kept me off work, caused me to gain 25 pounds and is making me almost suicidal.

"My hematologist has another drug, Rituxan that will provide better results than the Prednisone that I am not responding to. Unfortunately, Rituxan is $4,000 per shot as it is an IV drug. My insurance carrier, United Healthcare, does not want to cover the cost of this drug. So, despite my deductible and out-of-pocket maximum having been reached, I still cannot get this drug. I find this disgusting and I am suffering. My co-insurance bills continue to come in everyday and are much more than I can afford making $12 per hour," said Mira as she continued fighting for the medication her doctor would like her to try and that she hopes will offer better relief from her pain.

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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.

For more information, or to contact this patient: Liz Jacobs, RN 510/273-2232.

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“I guess my best bet is to tell my daughter to relocate to Canada so she can live. We were even denied life insurance for her because of her diabetes, even though she is in good health. I can't keep up with my co-pays left for me to pay plus pay her high-cost insulin and diabetic supplies.”

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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.

For more information, or to contact this patient: Liz Jacobs, RN 510/273-2232.

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Workers inside the Cleveland West Side Market wrapping up fresh meats and bagging beautiful fall produce stopped and chatted about their healthcare needs and their absolute understanding of the crisis facing the nation.  Some quickly tucked the nurses' fliers in their pockets and smiled so as not to anger watchful bosses who would rather have workers working than chatting about healthcare stories.

But at some of the West Side Market vendors' stands, owners did stop and talk about how hard it is for them to provide healthcare for their employees — or to even find it for themselves.  Many said they were glad the nurses were out there talking about common sense solutions and clarifying the plans offered by various candidates.

 As it was on the Nevada road show, nurses touched people with their honesty and their willingness to engage in discussion — and isn't that always the way it is for nurses?  When the people who are in positions of power — whether that be doctors or political candidates or elected officials — do not reach out and feel open or do not take the time to really discuss the problems faced by patients and voters, nurses throw a lifeline of clarity — a plan for action — and they embrace tough questions about why certain actions may work and why others may not.

In Ohio today, RNs outlined why they support single payer, publicly funded and privately delivered healthcare for all.  Single payer, as drafted in HR676, the National Health Insurance Act, is the most fiscally and morally responsible course of action for the broken profit-driven healthcare system. As Wall Street continues in crisis, nurses know that a healthcare system driven with the same shaky guidelines as the collapsing financial markets must be reformed and rebuilt… for all. 

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This just came across my desk: "A Boston jury has found that Unum(NYSE: UNM), the nation’s largest disability provider, defrauded the UnitedStates by forcing its customers to submit false claims for disabilitybenefits to the Social Security Administration (SSA), when Unum…
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"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.

Go to Source