Help needed

To the editor:

We must guarantee everyone has fair access to affordable health care coverage.

I’m 63 years old. My wife does not work, and I was laid off in February. I found that COBRA was going to cost us $1,039 per month so I tried to get private health insurance. They turned us down on so-called pre-existing conditions that we were finally able to prove wrong with the help of our doctor so they told us we could have health insurance for $1,504 per month. Even if I was still working at my old job, I couldn’t afford these prices.

The ARRA bill that was passed in mid-February provides us the opportunity to continue COBRA for nine months for $368 per month. If I don’t get a job with health insurance by November, we will not be able to continue having health insurance. This plays into the hands of big health care since they use these uninsured numbers as a reason to keep increasing prices.

Congress continues to talk about costs like any reform must be free of charge. The average American would be happy to pay a reasonable fee for health care. Talk about rationing! You are forced to find employment only with companies that provide health insurance, and wages are held back by the increasing cost of health care that companies pass on to their employees by direct deductions and reduced wages in general.

How can a truly caring public servant not see that “we the people” need help now?