I worked in a corporate environment for over 17 years mainly for small- to mid-sized engineering and environmental firms.  Over the years I went from fully subsidized to partially subsidized health benefits.  In addition, the deductibles and co-pays increased and the covered costs decreased.  My husband has always been self-employed and until he met me, he could not afford insurance.  I never really thought about it until 3 years ago when I decided to pursue my own consulting business.  Needless to say, obtaining insurance was difficult.  We ended up with an individual policy and in order to afford the premiums, each member of our family of 5 has a $2,500 deductible.  Let’s just put it this way:  with 3 boys and one or two broken bones a year, we average $15,000 a year between premiums and out-of-pocket expenses.  We hold our breath and pray that no “real” medical issue or emergency arises because we are still building our businesses and this would cause great financial trouble for us.

The point I want to make is that I would love to see a gap analysis done on who really can’t afford heathcare.  From my position, upper class individuals don’t have a concern and low-income are in a completely different category than the struggling middle-income individuals.  What I mean by this is that for someone who owns a home, works for either a company that can only partially subsidize benefits or has a limited iindividual policy while working for themselves, if a genuine emergency health issue arises and hospital treatment and/or extended care is required, these individuals can potentially lose everything they have worked for.  If someone is in an emergency situation and cannot pay their medical bills because they are in the low-income category, they will not sustain the same devastation.  In addition, low-income individuals have several options available to them through the welfare system and programs such as Healthy Families.

I believe that everyone has the right to the same healthcare regardless of income.  Without socilaized medicine is that even possible?  I would love to see more than just politicians involved in heathcare reform.  “Real” people who live the daily middle-class squeeze need to be an integral part of the committees addressing these issues.  Should I have to give up the American Dream of having my own business and seek work in a company I am not passionate about but has good health benefits?  This is what many people do so that they can sleep at night.  The answer is available if you ask the right questions to the right people.  I am sure there are many Californians in my situation who would gladly volunteer their time to the State to inject the dose of reality required to fully address all aspects of healthcare reform.