Guaranteed Healthcare

I am a single male aged 50 years. I have been self-employed almost all of my life in the painting contracting business and now real estate salesperson. I have had health insurance off and on as I could afford it over the years. After 30 years of exposure to chemicals and fumes I developed MCS or multiple chemical sensitivity. There are a host of sinus and allergy related issues associated with this ailment and most just have to be "lived with".

But that is not what this story is about. During my 2-3 year transition from painting to real estate I started to have digestive problems. As my income had decreased significantly during economic transition I had no insurance and paid all of the diagnostic tests, trial medicines, etc. out of pocket. This alone was in the thousands of dollars; biting into my income and savings. Finally diagnosed with a faulty gall bladder I put $2,600 down payment on a $5,600 surgery.

Prior to my surgery, I went into my eye doctor and was found to have a detached retina. Estimate for this surgery is over $10,000 with associated costs and recovery items. Not to mention the time that I have been and will be out of work. There is no way that I can even come up with the down payment for this one.

Luckily I am a homeowner as I have spent the last 14 years paying for a modest home. I am going to tap into my home equity for a loan. That is all I have and I hope that I can pay my bills, get the surgery, and get healthy before I lose all that I have worked for the last 35 years. This is why I feel that a national health care program for everyone is the way to go. It is my hope that the lawmakers will address this most humanitarian issue immediately.