This is the most important Oprah show ever. More people our dying from our health care system than the war and 911

I am a 63 year old man who until 2005 had been healthy and only went to doctors for physicals. I found out 12/05 I have a lung disease that is untreatable, incurable and unknown how it is contracted. I am now faced with a life expectancy of 3 to 5 years after diagnosis. The disease is Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. Since being diagnosed I have been researching possible treatments, expectations and treatment centers. I joined a yahoogroup called breathe-support which is made up of people who have this disease. Many of these people are outside the US. Some in Canada, UK and Australia to name a few. Their experiences with diagnosis, treatment and ER visits makes for shocking reading. While I will be the first to agree with Michael Moore that the US can do a lot better in the health care industry, socialized medicine has a lot to be concerned about. I have a terminal disease, no health insurance and very little hope for being able to afford to live once the cost starts escalating. Currently I only have minimal medical costs and oxygen costs. The oxygen and breathing support equipment costs are starting to add up quickly. My reason for sending this e-mail it to make people aware that what Mr. Moore is advocating is not a utopia. He will hopefully open the eyes of people who can address the medical industry here in USA. Thank you for making this opportunity available to me. John Fay

Hi Oprah, My name is Soheila and I have a son with diabetes type I. My husband just got leadoff from his work, and since I am a solo-practitioner, we now are going to have no insurance coverage. We have called many insurance companies, and sadly enough we have found out that because of our son's diabetes no insurance company offers us coverage. We can apply for cobra coverage, but that only is temporary and not a permanent solution. Let us know if you know a way to help us. Soheila

This is sad, no one in this country should have to be in this situation. The solution to some of this problem is people working to get the costs down. There are people who come here to this country, and will pay any price for the care they can't get in their own country. We are held hostage by pricing, by lawsuits, by Pharmecutical companies, big business insurance companies, whose goal is to make huge profit, because people will continue to pay no matter the price. By the same token, there are people with full coverage, who will use their coverage at the drop of a hat, because by gosh, they pay for it, so they are entitled to take their child to the ER if they so much as get a sniffle. This problem should not fall into the lap of government to take care of us. Reform and price regulation put into place, with a some type of reward or rebate system should be put into place. We as citizens cannot allow government control of our health care. To allow that type control is giving someone else responsibility for our own well being, and the limits will be even worse. It could get to the point of you can't take a vitamin supplement without a prescription. THINK AND EDUCATE YOURSELVES!

I understand this situation all too well. In 2004 I was involved in a car accident of which I was completely blameless. The police and paramedics said that I should have died, but I didn't. The man who T-Boned my car at 55 mph while I was turning into my driveway had no proof of identity. His license was suspended. He had no insurance coverage. The police did field sobriety tests at the scene which he didn't seem to pass very well, but they let him go because his friends from another car were at the scene. It's a very confusing senario.

The important part, at least in my opinion, is that my car insurance onlycovered 1k upfront, and then my husband and I had to foot the bill until I was 'better' and we could settle with our car insurance. We were bled dry of our savings just trying to cover my medical bills. I required 'round the clock care, so we filled out all the FMLA (family medical leave act) paper work, which his employer just kept pushing and pushing about... telling my husband that if he was unable to be at work as much as they needed him, then he wouldn't have a job anymore. The FMLA is supposed to PROTECT us from being fired when there is a familily medical emergency needing to be taken care of. His employer even contacted my physician, without my permission, to try and prove that my husband didn't need to stay home with me or provide me with transportation to my many doctor's appointments. The human resources department was e-mailing all my medical information to complete groups of people who had NO REASON to have any access to my medical information. It just goes on and on... needless to say, my husband wasn't able to be at work as much as they said he had to be, so he was subsequently fired eventhough we had the documentations saying that he had to be HOME on certain days... oh, and on other occassions, my husband was able to work from home since he worked for a technology company, but since we filled out the fmla, his employer said they would NOT allow him to telecommute anymore. It has been a terrible row.

So, my husband was without a job, I was disabled, and due to my medications, unalbe to operate a vehicle unless I wanted to get a DUI, we could get cobra coverage, but that would have been nearly 3k a month just for the two of us!! Neither he or I were able to get any benefits from the state... neither social security for myself or unemployment for my husband. So here we are... it's been over 3 years. I still need nearly constant care. I cannot get around well on my own. We have no medical insurance so I have not been able to get any medical assistance, except for medications. There are many procedures which may make this better, but I am not able to pay for them. When we finally decided to settle with the car insurance company in 2005, they told me that if the other driver would have had insurance I would be getting a multi-million dollar settlement, but since he didn't all that I could get was a few thousand dollars, which all went tword paying off my medical bills. Since then we've used all of our credit trying to see doctors and get help.

I am sorry that I have gone on and on in this thread. This is so painfull for me to even discuss. I feel like no one sees me. If I saw someone in my position I would definitely have something to say about it besides just, that's too bad.

Our healthcare system is completely messed up. People with genuine problems do not get the help they need and deserve.

I cannot believe people are still parroting your kind of rhetoric. The only way you americans are going to get affordable healthcare is through government regulation, a socialized plan. The founder of our health care system in Canada, Mr. Tommy Douglas said it best, "You Cannot have affordable healthcare in a profit driven system because the shareholders want to make a profit." That is as true today as it was years ago when he said it. You folks should wake up, we in Canada look in at what you people have, shake our heads and laugh. Private insurance companies do not have your well being in mind. I would rather trust my health care to our government than a wealthy group of individuals who only look at me as a source of income.

It never ceases to amaze me how people from other countries want to tell the USA how to run their country...that includes health care.. I'd rather trust my health care to a private insurer any day vs the government. And if I am not mistaken........aren't there a lot of Canadians on waiting lists for health care? Don't many of these come to America for their health care? This includes the couple that was expecting quadruplets? I don't believe there was a hospital in Canda that could deliver these quads.

That's the beauty of our system. There was no room immediatley available, so our socialized medicine system paid to send her where she could get good care immediately. It did not cost her or her family anything. Would your insurer do the same thing. Probably not, she would have been sent home to give birth, for some reason or other. As for waiting lists, it is a myth propegated by your insurance companies. And I am not trying to tell you people how to run your country, I am however trying to let you know that what you folks have does not work very well and that our system while having faults is way better.

I agree, the insurance companies here are great as long as you are paying in the premiums. They just don't like to have to pay out! We have paid into health insurance plans for 38 years, In the past 7 years I have had health issues, resulting in multiple surgeries and treatments. I am now and have been for the past 3 of those years, been told where I had to go for treatment, what doctor I had to see (even though I didn't want to go back to that doctor) and what prescribed medications the insurance company would not authorize payment for. For this great insurance, we are paying almost $8,000.00 a year in premiums, plus $2,000.00 per person maximum out of pocket before the insurance company pays it all. Gotta love it!
sick of being sick

Hats off to valium1616 and mindygogh. Mindygogh, thank you so much for sharing your information regarding healthcare in Canada. It is great to hear from Canadians about what is "truly" happening in the Canadian healthcare system. We mean well, but unfortunately, we have been misinformed. I am a victim of what I call "insurance fraud" by the insurance company. I filed a complaint with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) against an insurance company who claimed they received a document from my doctor that states I was examined for a pre-existing condition or a disorder that I absolutely do not have. This was a lame excuse to deny payment of a routine physical. When I asked the insurance company to send a copy of the document, I was informed that their system would not allow them to produce this document. What ever happened to "Rules of Evidence"? Because our elected officials are "sleeping with the enemy", TDI accepted the insurance company's excuse or LIE and refused to demand or force the insurance company to produce their alleged evidence. I have a laundry list of other challenges that probably sounds too familiar. We must realize that insurance companies have written very complex and "tricky" policies with high deductibles and exemptions for their profit and our demise. Underwriting is free to include weight, age, geographic location, gender, pre-existing conditions, etc. as a basis to more than double the premium quote or just deny coverage. In other words, they are allowed to discriminate. Also, our current healthcare insurance carrier has withdrawn money from our checking account in addition to the approved and authorized monthly direct withdrawal for our premium. It has been three months and I'm still trying to get this issue resolved.

I am aware that Oprah does not provide health insurance for all of her employees. How hypocritical is that? I'm sure that with all of her lucrative ventures that she could more than provide for her own employees.

But I'm sure her paying for last summer's trip to Hawaii for her employees and their partners will make them forget all about their lack of health insurance. Somehow I don't think that her employees should need to rely on their spouse's insurance when she can clearly afford to provide this. Health insurance is not a luxury, unlike a trip to Hawaii.

I am currently a military spouse with a 14mo son. I have never worried about health care for myself or my son. I never had to think twice about going to an Emergency Room or making a doctor's appointment. Then one week ago my husband asked me for a divorce and I knew that my fluffy cozy health insurance was about to be finished. I knew I could not afford to stay home to care for my son any longer because I would need to get a full time job that provided insurance. Watching this show really makes me worried about my future health and to think, I NEVER thought this would be something I would have weighing on my mind. I guess you never know when the floor can drop out from under you.

I think everyone should have insurance, children, Teens, Adults, Seniors. But I also think Doctors should not be charging so much also, If you ever look at your statement after the insurance has taken off what they would pay the Doctors, Hospitals, clinics take off the overcharge that they charge everyone including the people who do not have insurance. I know first hand what it is like to have insurance and not to have insurance, I even tease my husband after 4 years of marriage. I married him, because I Love him and for his insurance...

Divorcing does not have to mean the end of your coverage, especially for your child. The child he would have to carry and he will be required to carry you for up to three years if you have no means of insuring yourself.