My name is John McLafferty and I have no health insurance. I am unemployed. First, I was downsized. I got another job, but then the company was sold and I was out of work again. I couldn't afford COBRA.

Kaiser turned my wife down and I don't qualify for free assistance. My wife has diabetes, but I am okay. I went into credit card debt to buy my wife's diabetic supplies for 2 years until she got some help. Everyone needs to have health insurance.

Valerie and John DeCurtis

We have no insurance. When hard times hit, we had to find out what help was available. We have 2 teenagers: a seventeen-year-old and a nineteen-year-old and a thirteen-and-a-half-year-old dog. We lost our home in October 2005 and I lost my job after 32 years right before Christmas 2002. My wife, Valerie needs cholesterol medication and has many other health problems, such as bipolar disorder. I have diabetes.

My COBRA payments were $1000/month and unemployment checks were only $1400/month. When we looked into private insurance, we found some for $200/month for us, but it would not cover medication and would cover only up to $25,000 of in hospital fees. This did not meet our needs.

Now we are required to pay 20% of the cost at MetroHealth Hospital and Dennis Kucinich helped us to pay our gas bills.

Valerie is trying for disability. She got a job a Fairview Hospital, but had to take time off because of a hospital stay due to her health problems. Upon getting out of the hospital Valerie tried to go straight back to work, but she was fired for lack of a "return to work" form.