Personal stories like the one below illustrate the problems average people are facing.

“For many years my father, who is 54 and a veteran from the Vietnam War, and my family went without healthcare. Just a couple months ago we finally got healthcare. I strongly support this cause because my father was suffering and is still suffering with prostate cancer, COPD, and a severe back problem (basically his spinal cord is completely destroyed) and in at least a year he will no longer be able to walk and we be forced into a wheelchair.

For years we never we able to go on family vacations, cut back on household products/needs, and our home, in which I was raised in for 16 years of my life (I am now 18),was foreclosed on and we were forced to move. Our lives were horrible. I wouldn’t wish what we went through for years on my worst enemy.

Now that I am 18 I am able to vote. I registered the exact day I turned 18. One of the main things I look for in a Presidential Candidate is one who like you said ensure that all Americans have access to quality health care because for many Americans it is crucial.”

C.R.
Spartanburg, SC

Americans should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their futures will be financially secure. Yet, millions of Americans worry about their health and long-term financial security. Join other Americans who are speaking out about these issues and how they impact our lives.

Visit dividedwefail.org and find out how you can be a voice for change!

Personal stories like the one below illustrate the problems average people are facing.

“I have seen your commercial about the woman who was driving to work and got into an accident and had to go to work anyway, even though she was injured. I totally related to her situation.

I am a single mom with no insurance. I support my son alone and have no help from anyone. Taking off a day of work, if I or my child is sick, is not even an option. I pray every day that I don’t get sick and that I am able to work until my son has grown up and, hopefully, educated. And then, I think, I will probably die of exhaustion from my life, which would probably be a good thing since I am 48 and it is probably down hill from here.

I don’t know how much longer I can keep up the life I am living but I hope one day we won’t have to worry so much about getting sick. When I’m sick, I just try to catch the pain right when it starts and totally load up on Aleve, and hope I can get through the day, and maybe one day figure out a way to come up with the kind of money for doctors’ visits.

Anyway, life really is extremely hard when you don’t have health insurance and I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy...”

L. D.
Howell, MI

Americans should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their futures will be financially secure. Yet, millions of Americans worry about their health and long-term financial security. Join other Americans who are speaking out about these issues and how they impact our lives.

Visit dividedwefail.org and find out how you can be a voice for change!

Personal stories like the one below illustrate the problems average people are facing.

“I am a caregiver for my invalid mother and I do not have health care. I have been doing this since 1992, when my father became ill. I cannot work because my mother requires 24/7 care so therefore I do not have any health insurance. I don’t think it is fair for me to do without health insurance because I take care of my mother and save the taxpayers a tremendous amount of money.

If I had to put her in a nursing facility it would cost far more than health insurance for me, but I will continue just as I have done until I run out of health myself . I have now done this for 15 years - first for my Dad then my uncle who lived with them and now for my Mom who had a midbrain stroke in 1999.

Why should I be punished for having a kind heart?"

P.M.
Florence, SC

Americans should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their futures will be financially secure. Yet, millions of Americans worry about their health and long-term financial security. Join other Americans who are speaking out about these issues and how they impact our lives.

Visit dividedwefail.org and find out how you can be a voice for change!

Personal stories like the one below illustrate the problems average people are facing.

“My fiancé and I have been engaged for nearly a year. He was feeling ill for months (throwing up blood, terrible stomach pain, fatigue), and wouldn’t go to the doctor knowing how expensive an exam would be and that he didn’t have health insurance. He was finally rushed to the hospital and immediately given multiple blood transfusions. He had been internally bleeding and had lost 8 out of 14 units of blood in his body. The doctor admitted to us that had he waited any longer he would have bled out, not making it through the night.

After seeing many specialists and taking many tests he was released from the hospital 2 weeks later. We are 18 and are getting married within the next 24 months, but will be paying his doctor bill of 42,000 dollars till we are 30.

It’s sad that our country’s health care position is making citizens decide to try and tough pain out, jeopardize their financial future, or having to die. People shouldn’t be expected to make that choice."

L. H.
Las Vegas, NH

Americans should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their futures will be financially secure. Yet, millions of Americans worry about their health and long-term financial security. Join other Americans who are speaking out about these issues and how they impact our lives.

Visit dividedwefail.org and find out how you can be a voice for change!

Personal stories like the one below illustrate the problems average people are facing.

“I became disabled 5 years ago. I had to leave my great paying position. Now, on Social Security Disability Insurance and Medicare, I receive $726 a month. My Medicare costs $92 a month and my Part D with extra insurance costs me $172 a month.

My monthly debt is $400 a month. Doctors’ co-pays are $25 a month. That leaves me $37 for my medication. When I reach my donut hole for Medicare Part D, I cannot take two of my medications because they do not come in generic form. I just do not have enough money. One of the scripts costs $482 for a month’s supply. It’s crazy.

My husband returned to work after retiring after 34 years of teaching because we could not afford to live. I never expected to become so ill that would be disabled at the young age of 54. I don’t know about anyone else but the stress of it all seems to make me sicker. It just has to change. I worked hard all of my life and to lose everything because I am ill just makes no sense to me."

S. G.
Lincoln, RI

Americans should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their futures will be financially secure. Yet, millions of Americans worry about their health and long-term financial security. Join other Americans who are speaking out about these issues and how they impact our lives.

Visit dividedwefail.org and find out how you can be a voice for change!

Personal stories like the one below illustrate the problems average people are facing.

“I never dreamed that Medicare and Social Security would be such major issues for me in my early fifties, but then my husband sustained a spinal cord injury in 2004 and our lives were changed. If someone saw our tax return they’d say we are doing well, nothing could be further from the truth.

Two months after he came home from the hospital, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and I did not have health insurance. We could not pay for surgery, chemo, and a caregiver for my husband so I continued to be his caregiver when I needed someone to take care of me."

C.C.
Alexandria, LA

Americans should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their futures will be financially secure. Yet, millions of Americans worry about their health and long-term financial security. Join other Americans who are speaking out about these issues and how they impact our lives.

Visit dividedwefail.org and find out how you can be a voice for change!

Personal stories like the one below illustrate the problems average people are facing.

“Last year I had a heart attack at work. I was 26 years old. I was lucky enough that workers comp paid for it. The doctors told me not to return to construction type work.

I never had insurance, and now I can’t get it. My wife tried to get a job so our family could have health insurance but no insurance company will cover me now.

I have $800 dollars a month in meds now and $2,500 in tests a year, plus 3 kids to feed. So I had no other option but to go back to construction work so I could pay for meds that I can’t live without, but by doing a job that will kill me.”

R. Z.
South Bend, IN

Americans should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their futures will be financially secure. Yet, millions of Americans worry about their health and long-term financial security. Join other Americans who are speaking out about these issues and how they impact our lives.

Visit dividedwefail.org and find out how you can be a voice for change!

Personal stories like the one below illustrate the problems average people are facing.

“I am a critical care nurse who sees too many people who waited too long to seek medical attention because of the cost of health care. Or who had an illness but cannot receive the rehab they need to return to an active life. Recently I became ill with a severe infection. Despite the fact that I work full time and have health insurance I owe close to $20,000 to the hospital, doctors, outpatient x-ray and labs. I am worried sick. And I am sick of the Congress and the President not helping those that need it. Perhaps if we were all in the same boat they would see things more clearly.”

S.M.
Beaver, PA

Americans should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their futures will be financially secure. Yet, millions of Americans worry about their health and long-term financial security. Join other Americans who are speaking out about these issues and how they impact our lives.

Visit dividedwefail.org and find out how you can be a voice for change!

Personal stories like the one below illustrate the problems average people are facing.

 "Trying to be responsible for our old age, we purchased long-term care insurance eight years ago. This year our premiums went up 55 percent. I am afraid that the premiums will become totally unaffordable by the time we may need them, and we will lose all the dollars we invested and may have to rely on family or Medicaid in the end."

M. K.
Green Valley, AZ

Americans should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their futures will be financially secure. Yet, millions of Americans worry about their health and long-term financial security. Join other Americans who are speaking out about these issues and how they impact our lives.

Visit dividedwefail.org and find out how you can be a voice for change!

Personal stories like the one below illustrate the problems average people are facing.

“My husband, daughter and I have had to pay around $600 a month for health insurance. There were times in which we could not afford that and sadly, that was when I got sick.

I had to actually put a hysterectomy on our credit card and we racked up 30K in medical bills. We ended up having to file for bankruptcy and after several years our credit has finally recovered. Imagine the guilt I still live with for getting sick!

We all deserve to have affordable insurance options and there is no excuse for the health care mess our country is in. It all boils down to greed...greed by insurance companies, politicians and drug companies.”

Americans should have the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their futures will be financially secure. Yet, millions of Americans worry about their health and long-term financial security. Join other Americans who are speaking out about these issues and how they impact our lives.

Visit dividedwefail.org and find out how you can be a voice for change!