Single Mom With Cancer, Can't Afford Employer's Health Insurance, Lives In State Of Fear

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 30 Sep 2008 - 3:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   opinions  

Adrian Campbell of Howell, Mich., whose story was featured in Michael Moore's documentary SiCKO, is a cancer survivor and a single mom to Aurora, age 5.

"I go to bed frightened every night that the next flare-up of my MS or the next injury Aurora may suffer will finally spell the end of any hope I have to build a decent life for my child," Adrian explains.

"My brush with cancer left me $7,000 in debt after my insurance company - Blue Cross - questioned the treatment my doctor ordered. They denied payment of the care, and now I get calls from collection agencies and have damaged credit. All of it makes it hard for me to establish the kind of life I'd like to give my young child."

"Since April, I have been without any kind of health insurance coverage. I work, but the coverage my employer offers is too expensive for me to afford on top of my obligations - rent, utilities, food and transportation."

"Michigan is hurting right now, and lots of people cannot find jobs at all. Others have jobs like mine that barely pay the bills but that doesn't mean we can buy our own healthcare. It just isn't fair, and it makes me so angry that I cannot get healthcare for my daughter," Adrian added.

"I've sometimes found myself in abusive relationships that I was reluctant to leave because I needed access to health benefits. I've even slipped into Canada to get healthcare."

Read stories like this every day through Election Day at: http://www.GuaranteedHealthcare.org

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.

Guaranteed Healthcare

• Additional
• References
• Citations