Doctors For America

Only moral course (Letter to the editor published in the Houston Chronicle on Sept 12, 2009) I am a 61-year-old physician specializing in preventive medicine, a Navy retiree, and I have worked the last 23 years for some of America's largest corporations. It might surprise some that a p (more ...)

Every patient that I see I must consider their insurance first when deciding on my course of action. My care and the patients results would be far superior if I could base the decision on my medical knowledge and not on their insurance or lack of.

I have a patient who didn't have insurance for several years and so seldom sought care for her hyperthyroidism and only sometimes could afford the medication to help control her symptoms till she could have definitive treatment. She then got health insurance through her job last November a (more ...)

I am a physician, age 55. I cannot get health insurance because I had a heart attack when I was 36. I was told two years ago I should have another heart catheterization. I don't have the necessary $20,000 for the procedure. I accept that I will die a premature death.

Several times a week I see this. Patients who have private insurance call to get over the phone treatment because their deductible is not yet paid and they have no money to pay for the visit or medication if necessary. I send parents to Dept of Social service to see if their children are e (more ...)

Every week I see new patients who used to have private insurance, lost that insurance due to job loss or other circumstances, and had to stop all of their medicines because they could no longer afford them, even vital medicines for problems such as diabetes or high blood pressure. I am luc (more ...)

Daily I have patients who are unable to get the health care they need. My community is filled with people who have no health care at all because they have no insurance or high deductibles, or no doctors who will see them.

I work at a community clinic where we are overloaded with new patients who have just lost their jobs, and their health insurance. Just today we called a patient who needs an MRI of an mass found by ultrasound that could be a cancer, but the patient just lost her insurance and now must wait (more ...)

Had a patient that was unable to afford insurance that was diagnosed with stage IV brain cancer. He had to make the choice of bankrupting his and his family's finances or getting adequate life-prolonging treatment. Affordability and accessibility have to be included in health care reform.

A lack of insurance or underinsurance permeates the day-to-day interactions with my patients and adds hours to my workload each week as I attempt to find cheaper alternatives to keep my patients healthy. Sometimes it's the extra half hour I spend with the lady whose blood pressure has inex (more ...)

I spent an hour on the phone yesterday trying to obtain necessary services for a premature baby with neurologic damage--the insurer told me to call the region center, the regional center told me to call one of the state Medicaid programs, and the Medicaid program sent me back to the insure (more ...)

I work in an Emergency Department. I have 5-10 patients per day who are in the ED because they can't access a primary physician, have no insurance to pay for drugs, or I make a serious diagnosis but can't get them seen because it doesn't require admission at the moment, and there is no way (more ...)

Every day, one or more of my patients tell me they have lost their insurance or can't afford the medications they need either because the co-pay is too high or worse, that the insurance company doesn't include on the formulary the only drugs available to treat their illness.

Day after day I feel as if I'm practicing medicine with one hand tied behind my back. My HIV-positive patients without private insurance have recently lost the funding to cover an essential laboratory test which I need to see if I am to properly manage their medications. I work an absurd n (more ...)

I moved to Massachusetts four years ago, hearing friends and colleagues wonder why I would go to "Taxachusetts". But, I was able to welcome the ability to have each of my patients have a health care plan (or safety net for those who were in process) and I have had minimal obstruction to pr (more ...)

Young man with hypertension and no health insurance, with known renal disease, puts off doctor visits and treatment because he cannot afford the bills on his salary as a janitor, suffers catastrophic hemorrhagic stroke and remains now in a coma, as his family struggles with the bills and n (more ...)

In the rural clinic where I've worked the past two years, I see patients who have no insurance every day. Most are working - as teachers, servers in restaurants, farm workers in the fields, gas station attendants. Real people, 'regular' people, trying to make ends meet for their families. (more ...)

All too often I see patients who can't afford the treatment they need because they're unable to purchase insurance but also are not quite poor enough to qualify for medical assistance. But at least as often, I see patients with insurance that still cannot get the treatments that they need (more ...)

Just sixteen months ago I donned a white coat and stethoscope and for the very first time. I had the honor of being trusted to enter a room, asking people deeply personal questions and hearing their story. The chance to hear these stories is what attracted me to start medical school. (more ...)

As a family physician in Idaho, I have watched the national health reform debate with interest. Every day, I see our broken health care system - and every day, I become even more certain that we cannot continue like this and must have reform this year. Currently we rank 31st among devel (more ...)

As an Anesthesiologist, I once put a patient to sleep for a double mastectomy and ovarian surgery. She had just been diagnosed with breast cancer but was losing her health insurance in a month. She was having as much done as possible before she was left uninsured. Don't remember exactly wh (more ...)

The issue isn't about the patients I see, it's about the ones I don't get to see. Insurance reimburses PSYCHIATRISTS at such a ridiculously low rate that I can't afford to be an in-network doctor. Of course, parity may help the situation but I fear insurance company's will find a way to (more ...)

These End Stage Renal Dialysis patients are uninsured and unable to schedule Chronic Renal Dialysis; thus, waiting 1-2 weeks until there disease progresses to requiring acute renal dialysis as an inpatient. A less than optimal management choice for their disease.

I am a radiologist. As such, I am more professionally shielded than most from our health care realities. So let me just talk about some of my neighbors: next door is a pediatrician who can barely keep her practice limping along, and who is lucky to bring home $50K per year, despite bein (more ...)

I have a 63 yo pt who used to be a ballet dancer and has bowed legs with so much arthritis in her knees that she can barely walk. She needs knee replacements but she lost her job and insurance this year and won't qualify for Medicare for another 2 years. 2 more years of being basically hou (more ...)

Sorry, I am unable to limit this to ONE story. There are many people who need medical insurance AND the choice of care. Alternative medicine (acupuncture) has been proven to work for thousands of years. I have patients come to me after being told there is no 'solution' for their dis-eas (more ...)

Every week in my practice in Seattle I see patients who can't afford their medications: diabetics who stop taking their insulin, hypertensive patients who stop their blood pressure meds, and patients who can't afford the tests or treatment they need. I can see the patients because our prac (more ...)

When I walked into the exam room, a thin, pale, middle aged man was sitting patiently in a chair waiting for me. “Mr. Richards” (not his real name) politely explained that he needed medicine for his heart, and gave me a list of the medications he was supposed to be taking. I asked about (more ...)

52 year old man with hypertension, diabetes mellitus lost his job and health insurance. Could not afford medications or to pay for any insurance coverage. 2 years later, he had a stroke, leaving him in a vegetative state. This is one of hundreds of similar stories and is disgraceful that a (more ...)

There is a major problem even with patients who do have “good” health insurance. We pay so much to health insurance companies yet we cannot achieve the results that we desire. Currently I have an elderly patient on Medicare Advantage (HMO) insurance. She suffers from psychiatric and opioid (more ...)

Along with every other pediatrician I know, I have seen far too often the unconscionable consequences of children who are failed by our current health care system. A 9 month old child came into my county clinic; his face was puffy and covered in a rash. He sat before me and itched his arms (more ...)

Through work at Federally Qualified Health Centers, I am seeing the toll of being uninsured and underinsured--of exacerbating conditions due to lack of access. Some fellow students and I started an uninsured video project to capture some of the stories and transmit them to the general publ (more ...)

As a third year psychiatry resident, I am one of three residents in a clinic which sees only uninsured patients. Our waiting list is over a year long and often by the time patients reach our clinic they are very, very ill. About 2 months ago a young man was referred to me urgently. He had (more ...)

It has been exactly 2 years, 6 months, and 11 days since I delivered health care in the “traditional” manner in which most U.S. physicians practice medicine. I guess one would classify me as an MD, MPH who has gone on STRIKE until I can care for patients based on their health status and no (more ...)

Can you imagine losing your job because you had a seizure, then losing your health insurance so that you cannot afford medicine to treat those seizures? This is what occurred to my patient, who is otherwise 32 and healthy, and wanting to work. He said to me, "Doc, I wanna pay for my medi (more ...)

My 50 yr old severe asthmatic is in the working poor and has no $ for his asthma meds. My Community Health Care phar gave him 1 months worth while he gets the money to pay us back. He would have been admitted with a bill for thousands. My Health center is laying staff off because we are (more ...)

There are no lobbyists for the underinsured or uninsured and hence we do not hear their voices above the cacophony of sounds from all the special interst groups. Specific groups that are often least heard from are those with mental illness who are least connected or supported by their com (more ...)

Just saw an out of work contracter with elevated PSA (possible prostate cancer) and no money for a biopsy . . . and a young man with family history of diabetes and probable pre-diabetes but no funds for a screening test. . . these are people we need to treat now who fall through the cracks (more ...)

I work for the county clinic and see patients every day who have been without health care for years because they couldn't afford it, and come to me with complications of diabetes, or after near fatal heart attack or strokes that could have been prevented if access to care was better in thi (more ...)

I have organized a free clinic that has grown rapidly in recent months. We now have over 600 diabetic patients. Most of these poor people can not buy basic medications. They no longer have insurance. If we do not care for them, they will develop the ravages of uncontrolled diabetes includi (more ...)

I see a couple in which the wife has difficult to control high blood pressure on 4 meds and diabetes on insulin, also asthma, and high cholesterol. The husband lost his job as a transmission rebuilder when he injured his shoulder. Due to that, they could no longer afford the co-payments (more ...)

my patient's private insurance company would not pay for a screening colonoscopy. He insisted on waiting until he qualified for medicare. When he had his colonoscopy it revealed metastatic colon cancer. If he had adequate health insurance he would be alive today. We deperately need a natio (more ...)

I take care of children who have health insurance via Medicaid and SCHIP. Most of their parents have no insurance as a result of poverty. They often have infections and chronic diseases that receive no care. I had to convince a father to go to the ER because they'd have to take care of hi (more ...)

Two weeks ago I admitted to hospital a young man in his 20's with a deep venous thrombosis of the leg. He doesn't have health insurance and waited for 3 weeks with worsening symptoms because of his inability to afford doctor's visits, losing his job (that didn't provide insurance) in the m (more ...)

I'm Ali Khan, a graduate student in medicine and public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Medical College of Virginia. I know our current health insurance system is broken - and it's getting worse. In my training in Richmond, I've seen countless patients whose lives were irre (more ...)

My patient this afternoon felt a breast lump the size of a ping pong ball while disabled but not on any form of insurance while age 64 last January. The indigent health center got her chemotherapy started in September. She turned 65 and went into the HMO January 2010 just in time for her m (more ...)

The patient was diagnosed with penile cancer. This would require total removal of the penis and devastate his gender identify, sex life, and marriage. But he lost his job, lost his insurance, and did without treatment...

I am a pediatric endocrinologist who cares for children with chronic illness including diabetes. Two months ago, a teen age patient called the office acutely ill and vomiting. She had run out of her insulin and needed an urgent renewal of her medication. We prescribed this within the ho (more ...)

I have a patient that was forced into retirement at the age of 60, is too young for medicare, and cannot afford Cobra coverage. He currently has not gone to see his primary physician in over a year, and only comes in to see me for his dental checkup and cleaning when he has the money saved (more ...)

Many of the patients I see in my position as an OB/Gyn hospitalist have inadequate health care coverage. They are too young for Medicare and make just enough money not to qualify for Medicaid. They work at jobs where their employer can't or won't provide coverage. Instead of receiving r (more ...)

I'm one of the lucky insured -- convalescing from cancer surgery now, but have seen too many during the past 33 years in practice, whose main "treatment" for cancers, diabetes, hypertension, mental illnesses, and other chronic conditions was/is neglect -- not by choice, but by inaffordabi (more ...)

Which heart breaking story do I choose? Too many as I work in the city hospital where the uninsured are admitted. Here is a common one - 38 year old man, father of four struggling to make ends meet by working in a warehouse. He tells me his employer "treats me like family," but they do not (more ...)

Unlike many of the other people writing these stories, I am not yet a doctor. I am not even a medical student yet, but I am doing very well in my pre-med undergrad. That being said, I would like to write about a patient that needs desperate help from her government: me! About a month (more ...)

54 year old man with hypertension comes in with severe headache. He has hypertensive emergency with a bleed in his brain Left hemiparesis and apahsia. He had lost his job three months prior and was unable to afford his blood pressure medications since. Totally preventable. Totally tragi (more ...)

I have volunteered in a clinic for the working poor for 16 years. There I take care of hard-working people who make too much money to be on welfare and Medicaid, and too little to be able to afford health insurance, to pay for a doctor visit or to buy their medicine. I also see "upscale wo (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: 2010 already seems calmer than 2009 –must be an illusion. As one immersed in the healthcare debate, I have been acutely aware of the noise, controversy, stress and confusion playing out in the media for the past 6-12 months (not to mention the last 30 (more ...)

When I think of the need to increase access to care beyond the current senate bill, I do not think of one particular tragic case. Instead, I think of the incredible effort many provider exert to give some patient tbe most minimal care. As a resident I spent a month working in a clinic fo (more ...)

One of my patients today was a 57 year old lady with severe anxiety and depression. She had lost her job in March 2009. She cannot even pay my discounted fee. She needs psychiatric care, which she cannot afford. She has to care for her psychotic mother and severly ill father. She has no he (more ...)

One of my patients today was a 57 year old lady with severe anxiety and depression. She had lost her job in March 2009. She cannot even pay my discounted fee. She needs psychiatric care, which she cannot afford. She has to care for her psychotic mother and severly ill father. She has no he (more ...)

Just today I saw a Bolivian immigrant with a severe trauma history that was stuck in an abusive relationship because of her financial dependence on her husband. She feared leaving him for a long time because he threatened to have her deported. She took a bus for two hours to get to her a (more ...)

I recently diagnosed a 44 year old, uninsured truck driver with diabetes requiring insulin for effective management. He can barely afford his medication, let alone the dietary and disease management classes that would help keep him healthy. In addition, he will probably lose his commercial (more ...)

I recently admitted a patient who came to the emergency room after noticing double vision, difficulty walking, and a permanent shift in his left eye outward. This gentleman had been a store manager for years with excellent health insurance, but unfortunately lost his job and thus his insur (more ...)

Dear President Obama, A 54 year old man was referred to me for management of the metabolic syndrome. Over the past 18 months he has managed to reduce his weight by 18 lbs and improve his lipid profile. His only problem currently is hypertension. He called me today to find out if I would (more ...)

59 year old man with 1 week history of extremely painful shingles. Had been seen within 48 hours of onset by another physician who had prescribed Valtrex, an anti-viral to be taken three times a day, plus a generic corticosteroid. His insurance would not pay for the Valtrex so he only took (more ...)

They arrived early - before the doors opened. The National Association of Free Clinics had organized a one day medical clinic in Little Rock Arkansas provide free care to anyone without health insurance. Volunteers, health professionals and others, came from around the country to pr (more ...)

A few years ago, I saw a school-age child for her physical exam. I heard a murmur that required evaluation by a cardiologist. Mom was concerned about being able to afford the co-pay for a specialist--despite working three jobs to make ends meet. This type of scenario is a travesty.

I recently called a mother of one of my patients as I realized that I had not seen her recently. THe mother stated that she had lost her insurance and that she was going to have to limit working to part-time so that she could qualify for Medicaid for her daughter, who has anxiety and depr (more ...)

50 year old woman was riding her bike to her job at a nursing facility was struck by a hit and run driver. Her job does not provide health benefits. Her medical costs are $50,000 and rising.

1. I am older doc, work part time at Health Center-- every week see patients who can't afford meds, or put off care. One man has not gotten CT scan of chest despite persistent cough and other abnl fidnings-- can't afford it and no coverage. And my own daughter has had no Health Insurance (more ...)

Southeastern Michigan is practically the epicenter for the recession, so one can just imagine the plight of the people who enter the hospitals and clinics in Detroit and the surrounding suburbs. Many of the patients we see are not only plagued with illness but also burdened with high medi (more ...)

Dear President Obama, Everyday I see patients with kidney failure and heart attacks that I know will never see me again because they had to search for the money needed to visit my office. I am a primary care physician and they ask me to perfom the work of a specialist because they cann (more ...)

Dear President Obama: I was recently confronted with a young man with very high risk for heart disease, who lost his job and his insurance. His risk without health care, will likely mean he does not see age 50 (He is 26 ). In addition, I thought you should know, he was an EMT working for (more ...)

Mr.President, I treated a 34 year old lady who was diagnosed with Lupus and Rheumatoid arthritis and is not able to visit a rheumatologist(the doc. who treats them) because her insurance would not cover those visits. She is just 34 years old and she is at high risk of complications and ev (more ...)

A recurring theme. Two middle aged women, both worked hard for years but both developed complications of diabetes mellitus. Both are now out on disability, lost their health insurance, cannot afford medication or health care, and find their ability to manage their diabetes slip further (more ...)

I practice allergy/immunology in St. Petersburg, FL. I was sent a 21yo male for management of his severe, steroid-dependent asthma. The patient had gained 70 lbs in the past year due to daily oral steroid therapy. He subsequently developed hypertension and diabetes- both necessitating medi (more ...)

Dear President Obama, As you can imagine, there are so many patients we see as physicians who are suffering, stressed and scared about both finances and their illnesses, that it is hard to decide where to begin. It is difficult, as a physician, to be part of a system that is so broken (more ...)

Recently my area has been inundated by representatives trying to convince patients to sign up for Bravo health Insurance. I'm an Ophthalmologist and have been taking care of many of these patients for over 20 years. My patients have been questioning the representatives about whether their (more ...)

50 yo self-employed woman whose insurance company dropped her when she had a diagnosis of breast cancer. She was treated at the county hospital as an indigent patient. Many other patients with delay in cancer treatment because of lack of funds until they were able to get into the county s (more ...)

I have many, but one that is quite intriguing is that of a middle age attorney with fibromyalgia who had to stop practicing due to her medical bills and go on medical assitance. Two points here. Not just that her medical bills lead her to bankruptcy, but that the present medical environm (more ...)

We sent these stories previously to Congressman Oliver. We have changed the names for patient protection. Mary is a 41 year old female who in the summer of 2008 developed sudden life threatening anaphylaxis to most foods. On August 6th she was admitted to Athol Memorial Hospital thro (more ...)

Last summer I saw a Veteran who was not "service connected" for his PTSD, yet so symptomatic that he could barely make it into my office. He finally got his "benefits" 6 months later after being hospitalized (thank goodness he did not go to jail or commit suicide before he got to the hospi (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: As a physician in Los Angeles, I have been actively participating in the national health reform debate. Every day, I see our broken health care system - and with every patient I care for who suffers needlessly because of our system, I become even mor (more ...)

Joyce is a kind-hearted woman in her early 50's with multiple medical problems and cognitive deficits. She is compliant with all recommendations that I give her (cancer screening tests, medications, etc). She picks up and sells discarded aluminum cans for cents a piece. This woman need (more ...)

I have a young woman, mother of 2 school age children, who has struggled to get her diabetes under control. Finally after some effort and determination on her part she has her sugars under control, which means she will be at much less risk of dying before her children are grown. But sudd (more ...)

The mother of a patient of mine was in with her child. At the end of the appointment, as she gathered up her child's prescription, I noticed that her right arm was severely injured and obviously broken. She winced if it moved. A few days earlier she fell on that arm and had a large safe (more ...)

I have an endless list of stories to tell. But the worst took place when I was still a resident 2 years ago. I took care of a 46 year old man who had delayed care due to a lack of insurance. He had a flare of Crohn's disease and because he couldn't afford the medicines he waited until he b (more ...)

I see patients at a free clinic and have countless stories of people who ate trying to keep their chronic diease in check but lost their job because if the great recession and are now without medical care. I saw a women with diabetes that was well controlled but lost her job six months ear (more ...)

A family member of mine was diagnosed with hemochromatosis last year and shortly after laid off from work. This is a disease that involves a buildup of iron in the body and has serious consequences such as liver failure, painful joints, fatigue, abdominal pain, etc. The treatment simple; (more ...)

A patient of mine who is a very ill disabled Medicare attorney with Federal Employees Blue Cross Blue Shield has required extensive hospitalizations and treatment of her disease. She is only in her 40's but because she has been costing the insurer money, we have had to battle pressure fro (more ...)

A patient I recently admitted had coverage with a well known HMO in the area. Six months ago, he was diagnosed as having end stage renal disease requiring chronic hemodialysis. After 3 months, his HMO physician told him they didn't care for ESRD patients, (not true), and made him sign on w (more ...)

A patient of mine, 62 years old, came to tell me that he no longer had insurance and so could not see me anymore. He lost his job because of the economy and had come to the end of his COBRA. Because he had had a heart attack in his 40's getting insurance was ridiculously expensive so that (more ...)

I'm currently a second year medical student. I've worked hard to get to medical school and will continue to work hard until I graduate. The main reason that I'm in medical school is so that I can help people. But when I graduate I will have approx. $200,000 in educational loans to repay. O (more ...)

A 67 year old woman with medicare came into my clinic when I was a first year resident. She had a history of esophagus problems and was due for a endoscopy. She also had never had a colonoscopy. I had her schedule both. After they were done, she realized her insurance did not pay for a (more ...)

A young female patient with Crohn's disease lost her job, and so lost her health insurance. Although she found another job, it was without benefits. She made too much money to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford her medications. Because she could not take her meds, her diseas (more ...)

President Obama Unfortunately, I do not believe you are interested in hearing my story. I believe you are only interesting in hearing stories that support your agenda. So many people are hurting and afraid and this radical reform does not fix much, just adds to uncertainty. By the way, w (more ...)

Dear Mr. Obama, Daily interaction with patients and their families provides ample evidence of the need for profound reform of the health care delivery system. After decades of cost-shifting swindles and the adoption of the insurance business model by Big Medicine, the nation has yet to f (more ...)

While on an inpatient rotation It took care of a middle-aged female who was admitted due to escalating financial stress and suicidality. We were getting ready to discharge her but felt that she remained a suicide risk and needed a few more days in the hospital. The Insurance company disagr (more ...)

I see a diverse group of patients in Baltimore City. There are middle-aged people who are learning that they have diabetes, hypertension, maybe the beginnings of kidney damage. They could live happy healthy lives with preventive care. Everyone knows we have the science to do that now. I se (more ...)

I see patients who can't afford their health coverage very frequently, but I also see my fellow students who can't afford it. A friend of mine is a full time student under 25 so she is still on her parents' health insurance plan. The company switched plans and despite the fact that she t (more ...)

Born in Queens, NY,I came back to my family roots in Rural South Georgia (Cairo, GA) to make a difference in providing quality healthcare to the underserved but so many patients can not even pay me because they have lost their jobs and when they were told their insurance would still be in (more ...)

I worked at a free medical student clinic last night. Working patients (teacher, custodian) with insurance came in because they cannot afford their ever increasing co-pays. Last week I saw a patient with insurance who had been stretching out her diabetes medications because her co-pays f (more ...)

I have a patient that has no medical insurance and is not old enough for Medicare. I recommended colonoscopy to detect cancer early. He could not afford the $2000 for the procedure so did not have it done. Now he is dying from colon cancer that has spread to his liver. This is truly a (more ...)

I had two patients on the inpatient service recently, both without insurance. One was admitted for 3 days because of nausea and dehydration from her outpatient chemotherapy. She couldn't afford the nausea medications. The second was a man with metastatic cancer who needed brief rehabilita (more ...)

I was working in the emergency department and saw a middle aged patient with no medical insurance due to recently becoming unemployed. The patient had experienced abdominal pain for 48 hours before finally coming into the ER for what turned out to be a ruptured appendix with generalized a (more ...)

My patient put off her X-ray because she couldn't afford it (high deductable on her insurance) and died unnecessarily of lung cancer (she had never smoked). I want what they have in civilized countries, like a Medicare for All system. This could almost pay for itself if one looks at th (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: Health Reform Legislation Must Include Tighter Insurance Company Regulations. As a Pediatrician and leader in Doctors for America, a grassroots organization of nearly 17,000 physicians, I have worked hard for health care reform. Many (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: As a family physician in the greater Boulder/Denver area, I have observed the health reform debate in Washington, DC over the past ten months with intense interest. At times, I have felt great respect for certain courageous and outspoken politicians (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: I have watched the national health reform debate with interest. Every day, I see our broken health care system - and every day, I become even more certained that we cannot continue like this and must have reform this year. Last week, I heard T. R. (more ...)

One story, among many, that I can't forget, is that of a woman in her late 40's who died unnecessarily of a stroke. She was employed full time at a small company and did not have insurance. She had high blood pressure. She was waiting for her health benefits to start (after 5 years of em (more ...)

I was at the local pharmacy yesterday to pick up prescriptions for myself. During the 30 minutes I was there, 2 people left without their medicine because they couldn't afford to pay for the prescriptions. My heart went out to the pharmacist who obviously felt helpless.

I am a pediatrician with almost $200,000 in student loans. I make far less than that per year taking care of kids with disabilities. Please push for national insurance exchanges, no lifetime caps, and medical education reform. Also, if any one out there is listening, it would be helpful (more ...)

My friend who works for herself has to pay ridiculous premiums because she is a woman! Her male friend who has had a stroke, cancer and all sorts of surgery has to pay a fraction of what she pays because he is covered by his employer. That is unfair and wrong. Insurance companies should (more ...)

My wife, age 63, was laid off from her job in December 2008. She has no serious health problems. Her applications to two major health insurance companies have been denied on the basis preexisting conditions which are mild and controlled. This is "cherry picking"at it's worst. Thanks to t (more ...)

I am a child and adolescent psychiatry fellow. Every day, I see parents who are denied coverage by their insurance company for their child's mental health needs. These children and their families face unbelievable challenges due to psychiatric illness, including unremitting tics, extre (more ...)

So many stories but first comes to mind... Working with a young man who took what was supposed to be a couple of years to work in the midst of college, developed addiction and came into my care for this. He did not have insurance. He lost his job, but he made progress with his addiction, (more ...)

I am an "ER" physician. We are on the frontlines of the care for the uninsured. Everyday I see uninsured patients who need specialty care but cannot get seen by specialist because they lack insurance. It is a national travesty. I believe that the only way to provide comprehensive care is t (more ...)

The recent editorial by Senator Grassley in the NEJM documented the Republican opposition to any provision of healthcare to "illegal immigrants". I was hoping to get a request to Senator Grassley. Specifically I was hoping he could provide a script for me to recite when these people show (more ...)

I had a patient come in crying yesterday because she had an abnormal mammogram and breast ultrasound and her insurance company said she didn't meet their criterion for a breast MRI. What would you do, Mr. President if that was your wife?

I'm tired of having to justify myself to the insurance company bean counters while protecting myself from the unethical but profitable antics of our "legal" system.

It is getting much difficult to work with HMO's rules on day to day Inpatient work and office.

It's time to hold lawyers responsible for the cases they bring against doctors. There should be a board that sanctions lawyers who bring cases that are unjustified. They should be sanctioned for malpractice.

A young woman had pelvic pain but the insurance would not cover her to see a surgeon, as she had a "fibroid uterus". I tried for 3 years to get past them, and finally they allowed her to go, but she had metastatic colon cancer, and died at age 42. She was a teacher, a young mother, and a (more ...)

I work in a clinic that sees mostly low income and uninsured patients. I have "Too Numberous to Count" stories of patients getting sicker than they should from difficulty accessing the health care system. Ada Abernathy is one such patient who now has kidney failure and blindness from yea (more ...)

Working in a health center for low-income people, I see people every day who have skimped on medicines or needed doctor visits because they didn't have the money. One day I saw a woman who came in for medication refills and had a blood pressure of 280/180. When I gently told her I wanted (more ...)

It is getting harder and harder to practice medicine when you have to verify insurance Co-Pay and deductible that pateints have prior to simple office visits. Co-pays for Office visits are going higher and higher every day. There should be a cap on them. Also deductibles are getting higher (more ...)

Today i spent the day trying to arrange an echocardiogram for an 8 y/o US citizen whose parents are dead. he is therefore living in Mexico with his single grandmother who is ill with untreated diabetes. He crosses to school daily, but is not eligible for health coverage of any sort, becau (more ...)

Last year in the Emergency Department I saw a 44 year-old man with a facial tumor that was consuming and deforming the right side of his face. He had first been aware of it months before when it was a painless lump the size of a dime. Some of the health care providers whispered behind hi (more ...)

The stories of patients being unemployed, uninsured is so common during my visits that I've become numb and so have my patients. We have regressed to a state of survival for both patients and physicians to do whatever we can to ensure that they can get whatever service they can, even if i (more ...)

I'm a radiologist in a large multidisciplinary practice. Every day we see a parade of patients carrying in outside imaging studies that are not worth the CDs they are burned on. And we have to tell them that the MR or the PET scan they paid so much for is worthless. Worse, we will have to (more ...)

Yesterday I worked with a father who was almost in tears because he wasn't sure how he was going to pay for the medical care his 8 year-old daughter needs. She was just diagnosed with epilepsy and needs expensive medications and close follow-up. He can't afford insurance but makes too much (more ...)

Health insurance does anything but insure health. Health insurance companies are businesses trying to make money. In order to make as much as they can, they deny claims, decide whether something warrants inpatient care or not, set caps on how many rehab days they will cover, and make many (more ...)

I AM A PEDIATRICIAN in private practice. 80% of our patients here in Reading are on medical assistance or CHIP. While they have reasonable access to care because we insist that our collegues provide it, their parents daily tell us that the only way they can get care is if we will please (more ...)

There is a new, strong, scary movement happening. Insurance companies are changing their premium structure and they are changing other aspects of coverage. Every day someone tells me about a change of coverage that is causing additional hardship without improving care! Today I had to ge (more ...)

I have many stories of how uninsured patients have suffered from not being able to afford their care, but one stands out in particular. One young woman in her 40s came into the hospital with a new diagnosis of heart failure from years of uncontrolled high blood pressure. She had been witho (more ...)

I'm a family doc in Oregon. I was following an insured patient I knew well for her 3rd pregnancy when her husband's job took new insurance and suddenly her pregnancy had become a preexisting condition. Later when she was told she needed a caesarian section she waffled because of the expen (more ...)

There are so many stories, it is hard to choose. Most recently, I had a middle-aged man walk in who had not seen a doctor in years. His blood pressure was dangerously high - he almost had a stroke. We were able to eventually get it under control and get him plugged in with specialists to a (more ...)

This story pertains to my wife, also a doctor. She takes a highly controlled drug called Xyrem for narcolepsy. It is fedexed to her monthly from Jazz Pharmaceuticals from a central pharmacy. When Sara first started taking this drug in 2005, she paid $500/month out-of-pocket, as she ha (more ...)

I am a family medicine physician working in a community health center. Recently I helped care for a patient whose progressive illness remained undiagnosed for some eighteen months while attempts were made to make diagnosis in absence of medical insurance. Once hospitalized in heart failu (more ...)

Since Hawaii Medicaid converted to for-profit managed care insurance companies last year, Hawaii physicians have been hassled with absurd denials of prescriptions for cheap generic drugs. Many of these are for essential medications that will lead to seizures and expensive emergency care if (more ...)

I have been employed by a health care network as a doctor and department chief since 1990. I am also a single parent of 2 disabled children. I was diagnosed with a severe autoimmune disorder in 2003, but was able to continue to work. All of the FDA-approved meds for my condition eventually (more ...)

I am an emergency physician who works in a busy public hospital in NYC. Every day I hear the struggle people have to enter the health system. Many are well aware that the emergency department is not the place to get primary care but they are stuck because they are unemployed or too poor (more ...)

I am a pediatrician who works for the state of Louisiana. We see many children who are poor, and their parents neglect their own health because they work 2-3 part-time jobs that don't offer health coverage, and they are too poor to buy their own. These parents need insurance so that they (more ...)

I am currently in medical school and began my first clinical shift at the start of the new year. I have heard numerous stories already from my supervising physician about patient after patient that does not seek proper medical treatment because they do not have insurance, a procedure they (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: What a Mother Taught Me About Health Reform I practice internal medicine at Brigham and Women\'s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Caring for patients has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. I\'ve been increasingly frustrat (more ...)

It is a downright shame, that in a rich and civilized industrial country like ours--U.S.A., that in the so called average family, especially the bread winner, gets a major illness, the family could go bankrupt.So amry poor people forgo seeking medical attention for major illnesses until it (more ...)

I just took care of a kid with renal disease that has been in and out of emergency rooms for 2 months because of increasing violent behavior and lack of access to mental health care and medication. He was getting better up until his psych meds caused him to gain weight which led to making (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Contrast how the medical profession approaches a health problem with the health insurance industry\'s strategy. In medicine, epidemiologists help identify who is likely to develop an illness. Then doctors identify the skills and resources necessary t (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: As an internist outside Chicago, I have watched the national health reform debate with keen interest. Everyday, I see the effects of our broken health care system, and everyday, I become even more certain that we cannot sustain the status quo. We must (more ...)

Insurance companies are ruling how and when we practice medicine. I have several patients, who by virtue of enrolling in a medicare advantage plan or HMO, are unable to gain access to a doctor. The insurance companies try to cost contain by only allowing a few doctors on the insurance pane (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: As an Arizonan and physician, I’m writing to respond to a recent article on high-cost health plans. It is imperative this tax be included in final health reform legislation, and here’s why: First, the tax will control health care costs. This is espe (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: We would like to respond to your profile of the group, Americans for Prosperity, to end government influence in healthcare. It is the very absence of adequate government regulation that has produced a fragmented insurance market and (more ...)

I have 3 stories, each of a patient who waited till he/she turned 65 and had Medicare before seeking help for some serious symptoms. The first, a female patient with no insurance had experienced chest pain with exertion, and I had referred her to a cardiologist but she cancelled her appoin (more ...)

I had a patient who was in her early 60's when I met her. She had diabetes and smoked, but was a helper to all around her. I watched her get increasingly weak and breathless. When she turned 65 she got Medicare, but by that time she was irreversibly ill. she lived a year or two more, and d (more ...)

I work at a VA outpatient clinic. Many clients would not have access to health care if it were not for the VA, and I hear expressions of gratitude for this several times per week. Knowing that one's physical needs will be addressed brings a kind of psychic relief. Many express the opinion (more ...)

I am an anesthesiologist working at a same day surgical center in Provo, Utah. One of our outstanding nurses had a particularly rough year. She has twin sons, 11 years old. One was born with a heart condition that has progressively worsened over the past several years, requiring him to (more ...)

I saw a 50 year old farmer who has sleep apnea so badly he was falling asleep on his tractor! What was happening when he drove to work and back? His insurance wouldn't cover the simple machine that would help him breath at night and treat his symptoms so he could work. Untreated sleep apne (more ...)

I have worked in the NYC jail/prison system for 35 years, certainly a needy population. How ironic, though, that in our country only inmates are guaranteed access to healthcare as confirmed by the supreme court. Everyone should have this guarantee an we should all pay for it via equitable (more ...)

To better understand the stakes of the health care game, I’d like to tell you the story of a patient of mine, a fellow American named John. John was in his mid-50s and had worked the same job for the last 15 years. He was healthy until his mid-40s when he developed high blood pressure (more ...)

As a hospitalist in a Urban Hospital I see uninsured patients readmitted frequently. I'm working on a Readmission program: Project BOOST. It is not a matter of if we are going to spend the money but how. It is already being spent every day in the emergency room.

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: As a physician, I have watched the national health reform debate with interest. Every day, I spend countless hours to help patients tackle through our broken health care system - and every day, I become even more certain that we canno (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: Once a month I, a Stanford medical student, go to the free clinic to help run its cardiology program Once a month, I see people who have serious health conditions - people who had emergency heart surgeries for clogged valves or ruptur (more ...)

I am a third year medical student at a school in Portland, Oregon. I generally do not object to required health insurance for students, but... $363.00 was deducted each term, for three terms, from my Federal Stafford Loans in my first year. This year, that figure has morphed into $607.00 p (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: Before the conventional wisdom solidifies that Scott Brown\'s victory represents a repudiation of President Obama and Congressional Democrats’ healthcare reform plan, it is important to note that Brown embraced the Massachusetts healt (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Interpretation of the Massachusetts voter outcome as a rejection of healthcare reform is absurd. Colbert of “The Colbert Report” characterizes the situation best. As he points out, Massachusetts enjoys universal healthcare already so the message was (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Your assumption that the "Massachusetts Upset Sends Clear Message" (The Seattle Times, January 21,2010) and that that message is to stop health care reform in its tracks is simply inaccurate. Exit polls of voters who supported Obama in 2008 and now (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the editor: It is far too easy to leap from the Scott Brown victory to the depths of indecision. Yes, health care is very complicated and will require continued attention after any legislation but our own MA experience should inform the nati (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the editor: So close and now so far. When o when will this country open its heart to our fellow citizens as they have done for the Haitians? I am an old physician at the end of my career and I was hoping to see some change in our unjust, uneq (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: I am a doctor who has practised for many years. I consider it disgraceful that we have allowed a small contingent of frightened and angry people to derail a promising effort to reform our system and save significant money. Too many people are without (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: As a physician who has worked in Massachusetts for seventeen years, I have seen what our health care reform legislation has done for our state in the last few years. It is wonderful to see and know people who can get the help and hea (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Although the current bill passed by senate and house of representatives is far from perfect and may or may not cut costs in the long term, it is a step in the right direction. Universal access to health care is badly needed, and it should be a right, (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: I am a retired pathologist residing in Pennsylvania. As a physician I see our broken health care system everyday and know we cannot afford to give up on health reform. We need to move forward and do it quickly. Recently,my sister-in (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: I am a family nurse practitioner with over 20 years experience in a variety of health care settings. I am writing in response to the numerous negative television advertisements that encourage the public to fight against health care r (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: After graduating from the University of Virginia\'s family medicine residency in 1988, I returned to the hometown of my forefathers to start a rural practice. I have been delivering babies, taking care of patients in the office, hospital and nursing h (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: RE: I am an obstetrician/gynecologist, writing in response to the desperate need for health care reform. As a physician, I see our broken health care system everyday and know we cannot afford to give up on health reform. We nee (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: I am a psychiatrist in private practice in Atlanta who saw every day how broken our for-profit healthcare system is. In fact, calling it a system is inaccurate; Americans are covered by a patchwork quilt of private and public provide (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: I am a non-practicing physician, trained and formerly board certified in Internal Medicine and Critical Care Medicine, currently living in Andrews, TX. I am writing in response to the current Health Care Reform debate in Congress, th (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: Houston Chronicle RE: Health care reform I am a general surgeon who has practiced in Houston for over 30 years. As a physician I have seen innumerable instances indicating how broken our health care system is. Not long ago, I (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Our politicians are showing their true colors. They are indeed politicians guided by their own political survival rather than the best interests of their constituents. We need reform and we need it now. No initial plan will be perfect but we need to st (more ...)

1/25/10 GEAUX SAINTS! GEAUX HEALTHCARE REFORMERS! GEAUX DEMOCRACY! This week both healthcare and democracy took a really hard hit. But the game is hardly lost. We are at the 1 yard line on healthcare reform. Let’s get pumped up and win this thing. If after 43 years the Saints have (more ...)

Dear As the President’s first State of the Union address nears, I’m writing you as a concerned citizen and physician. I still strongly believe that healthcare reform must be enacted this year. I realize (and hope) you will receive many such messages today and that likely no one will s (more ...)

Helping doctors reenter practicing clinical medicine should be a way to help ease the shortage of primary care physcians and should be a priority within the health care reform bill. My story: Christopher M. Glenn, MD Professional Career Personal (more ...)

I'm a 4th year MD/MPH student and my mother is a retired family physician. However, my family is not immune to to dangers of our health care system. Shortly after moving to New Jersey in October, my father underwent quadruple bypass cardiac surgery. Though my father is insured with Medicar (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: As a physician, I see our broken medico-legal system everyday and know we cannot afford to give up on Tort reform. We need to move forward and do it quickly. Not only medicine but all of our American industries are hurt by a runaway l (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: because if you are I can assure you I am too ... I am a pediatrician, I teach pediatrics, I train future doctors, I support the families, and I explain and try to make sense out of all the insurance craziness every day ... this health care reform (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: As a doctor, I fully endorse reform that finally makes health care affordable for every patient I see – the insured and uninsured alike. We need to spend money not just to increase the number of people with access to quality care, bu (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Among the several patients I saw last week, seven touched me in a way that medical school did not prepare me for. Technically these were seven of my “luckier” patients: all employed, all insured by commercial health plans or Medicare. What united th (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: I am a practicing physician who routinely sees the suffering and deaths caused by a health care system that leaves tens of millions of people on the outside,unable to access health care except when so desperately ill, they find their way to an emergenc (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: As a physician in practice for 30 years I am in a position to state with authority that doctors and their patients, the insured and the uninsured, the affluent and the poor, economists and health policy experts all agree that health care reform is vita (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: As a physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, I spend one-quarter of my time caring for patients, and I spend the rest of my time designing and studying ways to make our health care system better and safer. For me and my colleagues (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Dear Editor, I am writing in response to the January 22, 2010 article in the Huntsville Times “Artur Davis says health care reform legislation ‘too big, too much,’” to reaffirm that the American people have endured the current health care system for l (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Dear Mr. President: Thank you for your State of the Union request for a better approach to health care finance reform. Sixty five percent of the American public and 59% of physicians have a plan for health care finance reform that will bring down prem (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: I am dismayed by the stalled progress of health care reform in Congress. As a primary care physician, I have seen the damage that results when my patients lose their insurance. I care for many working class and disadvantaged patients. When they lose (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: As a pediatrician at Cleveland\\\'s MetroHealth Medical Center, I get to take care of low-income children covered by Medicaid, as well as the children of hospital employees who have private insurance. All these kids get excellent care. But what about (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Dear Editor, I am nearing the 25th anniversary of practicing general pediatrics, just as our nation nears its final decision on health care reform. The usual storm and fury that political fights typically create, hide an obvious fact. The stake (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: I am a physician in Alhambra,California. I see our broken health care system everyday and know we cannot afford to give up on health reform. We need to move forward and do it quickly. Small businesses, entrepreneurs are supposed to help rejuvenat (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: I asked one of my elderly female patients on Medicare, who I had seen for years, “Shouldn’t everyone be able to have insurance like you have?” She replied “No, send them all back to where they came from! I don’t want to lose my health benefits.” I w (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: I am a physician in Cleveland who takes care of patients with kidney disease and high blood pressure. As a physician I see our broken health care system everyday and know we cannot afford to give up on health reform. We need to move forward and do it q (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: I\'ve practiced pediatrics in the area for the past 18 years, and watched the insurance system drive us off the cliff in the name of profit, through rules and gimmicks and paperwork that cause to much pain to too many families. It is time for congress (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: As a Family Practitioner, I have followed the Health Care legislative debate perhaps more carefully than most. The process was initially exciting, and is now terminally frustrating. On a more personal level, it has also been quite sad (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: I am a pediatrician, I spend my day caring for kids to keep them healthy and help them to be the best they can be but there are problems in health care that stand in my way. Currently, when someone looses a job, the family looses their health care. If (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: As a physician, I see how our health care system fails someone everyday and know we cannot afford to give up on health reform. We need to move forward and do it quickly. Recently I took care of a patient wh (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Regarding the piece, \"GOP cool to Obama\'s offer to meet on healthcare reform,\": The time has come for Republicans to stop playing politics and support common-sense solutions to health reform such as banning the use of pre-existing conditions to d (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: As a primary care physician in Waterbury, I have paid close attention to the year’s developments in health care reform. I too have been frustrated by the Congressional sausage-making, backroom deals, and lobbyists spending $1.4 mi (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: It is so discouraging to think that this country is going to stop on the brink of actual reform of our health care delivery system. For the past 35 years I have been an Emergency Medicine physician. Each day I see the devastating effects of the lack (more ...)

In my work w/ Hospice and Palliative care patients every day I see the for long term care payment so that folks who wish to die at home can afford to do so w/o bankrupting themselves or their families. Because custoidial (non-skilled but essential services) are not paid for patients usual (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: When I am called to see a patient in the hospital I only am told a name and a room number. Sometimes I hear a symptom or a preliminary diagnosis. Those of us suspected of responding to such a call only after investigating insurance status are held in (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: In the hospital where I work, I have the same conversation a few times a week, where I ask patients why they are not taking the medications to treat their high blood pressure, why their diabetes is poorly controlled at home, or why, despite their heart (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Recently, Blue Cross had planned to increase insurance premiums by 39% to thousands of customers without an explanation despite record profits of $4.7 billion last year with 1.4 million fewer customers. The reason that Anthem Blue Cross can declare suc (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To The Editor: I am an anesthesiologist and pain management specialist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, PA. As a physician, I see our broken health care system everyday and know we cannot afford to give up on health reform. We ne (more ...)

Sickness care system in critical All Americans -- liberal, conservative, black, white, rich and poor -- suffer under our dysfunctional "healthcare" system (more aptly, our sickness care system). As a Boulder resident and metro area physician, I see the impact this has on our neighbors (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Some of our elected leaders would have us believe that a well-armed general public would make our state safer. They rely in the elementary fallacy that there are \"good guys\" and \"bad guys\" and since the bad guys don\'t care about the rules, the goo (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: With a massive pay cut looming March 1, Medicare providers are forced once again to reevalute their Medicare participation while worrying how the cuts will impact their private insurance payments, also often tied to Medicare. Investments in hiring or p (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: I am a family physician in Tribune, Kansas. Health care reform has dominated national news for months. As a physician, I work in this broken system every day and know we cannot afford to give up on health reform, nor can we baby-step (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: As the debate on health care reform wages on, I have grown increasingly frustrated with the media coverage of the issues. The reporting on health care reform has almost exclusively focused on the process of legislation rather than reporting on the imp (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: I\'m trying to find where it says in my medical school curriculum that only insured or financially able patients should be given medical care.

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: Dear Editor, I am a second year resident in Internal Medicine in Sacramento, Calfironia, writing in response to your recent article regarding the health care debate. As a physician, I work within our crumbling health care system every day. (more ...)

Submitted as a Letter to the Editor: To the Editor: I am a former member of the board of Directors of my HMO and my wife is a RN-Case Manager. We moved here from Michigan last year. We are writing in response to the overall climate of lies, misstatements, innuendos and disinformation (more ...)