Carol M. in Vicksburg, PA:

I am a self employed direct care worker and do not have any health insurance.

I have a pre-existing condition and therefore have been rejected from almost every insurance I apply to.

I have a file of rejection letters. There was one company who would accept me for $1,500 per month as long as none of my medical expenses could be related to my pre-existing condition-fibromyalgia.

As a direct care worker, that was out of the question and in my opinion, a form of discrimination.

Because I cannot get any form of insurance, I live on the edge, avoiding tests and specialists and hope that nothing goes wrong. As far as working is concerned, I go no matter how I feel. My consumers rely on me and if I am sick and can’t attend to them, then they don’t get out of bed, get their medicine, etc….

Insurance companies need to take care of insurance business and spend less on banks and investments. The industry has gotten so big and to someone like myself, it seems to not care about the patient or the provider and is only concerned about huge profits for investments.