Only one side of the story is being told by the media. Why are we so afraid of providing health care to everyone? Why are we so afraid of taking care of our brothers? How can other countries make health care services available to the populace and we turn our heads? America, we are better than that!

The healthcare cost savings alone to these people, going back into the economy, plus savings to the state in indigent healthcare costs, will far more than offset any perceived disadvantages of participation in the program.

Can you imagine going to your local pharmacy and paying $21 for a single aspirin tablet, $18 for two Alka-Seltzer, or $35 for a tube of hydrocortisone cream?* Hospitals in California charge prices like these every day--overcharging by 500% or more above their actual costs. On top of that, nonprofit hospital system CEOs are making up to $4.8 million a year!** Rising healthcare costs are keeping many Californians from getting the care they need, and leaving others under a growing mountain of healthcare debt. Meanwhile, the hospital industry in California made more than $4 billion in profits in 2012. We can’t afford it. California’s healthcare providers must bring costs down to reasonable, affordable rates. Ask California’s health care regulators to keep hospitals to a reasonable rate of no more than 25% above the true cost of medical care (including material, facility, and labor costs), with allowances made to offset costs of charity care. We will deliver your signature directly to California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, and California Health & Human Services Secretary Diana S. Dooley. *Prime Centinela Medical Center, Inglewood; Sutter Memorial Hospital, Sacramento; Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles **Lloyd Dean made $4,882,756 million from July, 2011 to June, 2012 as CEO of Dignity Health.

When I read a recent news story about how one hospital charged $1000 for one toothbrush, I admit to being skeptical. But then my friend’s wife accidentally cut her finger and was charged $1000 for one tube of skin adhesive -- medicine you can buy online for $40. Turns out, overinflated medical prices wasted an estimated $105 billion in America in 2009. And that’s the tip of the iceberg. Excessive administrative costs and paperwork wasted $190 billion. Duplicate treatments and medical errors wasted $130 billion. Overall, roughly one-third of all health care spending is waste. (source: Institute of Medicine) Insurance companies should focus on cutting this waste, but too many of them just raise premiums and expect consumers to foot the bill. That's why we're calling on Governor Kitzhaber to require insurers to do more to cut this waste, before they are allowed to raise premiums.

I was in the hospital and checked out at 10:00 AM. I noticed on my bill I was charged for that day. When I asked what constituted a day I was referred to my Medical Provider. When I asked my Medical Provider I was referred to their booklet which simply stated what the amount of my co-payment was without explaining what constituted a day. Before 12PM, After 12PM ?? Since they never told me, I refused to pay for that day. They threatened to report me to a credit agency. I still refused to pay. I then checked with Medicare regulations which states: THE LAST BILLABLE DAY YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR IS THE DAY PRECEDING THE DAY OF DISCHARGE. I t's the law, yet many hospitals charge for the day of discharge which amounts to HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS of ILLEGAL CHARGES EVERY YEAR. The hospital cancelled the charge for the extra day for me. BUT What about you and your friends? Whose looking out for your protection? This 87 year old needs help to STOP THESE ILLEGAL CHARGES FROM BEING IMPOSED. Please alert your friends. WE NEED SIGNATURES BY JANUARY 31,2014.

On World AIDS Day, President Obama announced he is committing $100 million of the National Institute of Health's budget to find a cure for AIDS. This is a $33 million increase in AIDS cure funding each year for three years and will pay for pivotal new research that will move us all closer to a cure. We want to thank the government officials who made this bold decision possible: Anthony Fauci, MD (head of the NIH Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases); Jack Whitescarver, PhD (Head of the Office of AIDS Research); Carl Dieffenbach, PhD (Director of the NIH Division of AIDS); Francis Collins, MD PhD (Director of the National Institutes of Health); and President Barack Obama.

The Affordable Care Act is not perfect. But it is in place and can be fixed as the need becomes apparent. And it is a whole lot better than what has been in place for the last several decades. Killing it would be nothing but a huge step backwards.

My neighbors pay their mortgage by donating plasma and yet do not qualify for Medicaid in Kansas. They have health conditions that need care but aren’t getting it. A friend goes without his insulin because he cannot afford to buy it but also does not qualify because he is too poor for Obamacare. Under the Affordable Care Act Kansans who are below 138% of the federal poverty level ($15,856 for an individual and $32,499 for a family of four) are not eligible. This leaves 240,000 Kansans uninsured. It was intended that the Medicaid Expansion would then cover these people but our Governor did not accept it for Kansas. A key provision of the Affordable Care Act is the expansion of the Medicaid program to these Kansans. The federal government will pay most of the costs of financing the Medicaid expansion.

Many people in Mississippi are stuck in the Medicaid/Affordable Health Care gap, my daughter and her family included. She earns more than the poverty level so can't qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to qualify for the premium support provided by Affordable Health Care. Our governor opted out of the expanded Medicaid program which has left so many out in the cold.

It is easy to frame any issue to suit one's own agenda. The right wing of this country has framed Obamacare as a government take-over and a fiscally irresponsible action rather than as a modest proposal to help with our nation's health care crisis. The US spends more than two-and-a-half times more on health care per person than most other developed nations in the world. Obamacare is a modest and fiscally responsible step in the right direction of reducing those costs.

This petition is started to preserve the rights of patient's in chronic and intractable pain to get prescribe the medications that they need, and to stop PROP from sabotaging our treatment and our rights.

I’m Keisha Kuma, a mother of three from Georgia, and I have Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Insurance companies use to label me a pre-existing condition. And now, Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens is telling me this disease is “my fault.” He really said that someone with an undetectable, debilitating and chronic disease is at fault. He actually compared my disease to a car wreck: A pre-existing condition would be you then calling up your insurance agent and saying, 'I would like to get collision insurance coverage on my car.' And your insurance agent says, 'Well, you never had that before. Why would you want it now?' And you say, 'Well, I just had a wreck, it was my fault and I want the insurance company to pay to repair my car.' And that's the exact same thing on pre-existing insurance." He tried to walk back his comments claiming it was a “poor analogy” but clearly he just doesn’t get it. He’s the same guy who said he would do everything in his power to be an “obstructionist” of Obamacare. Will you stand with me to tell Mr. Hudgens that his actions are unacceptable and sign this petition calling on him to resign? When I was first diagnosed in 2010 I was admitted into the hospital for 10 days to learn how to walk again after the left side of my body went numb. Walk again I did. I was able to focus on getting better because I wasn’t worried about the doctors or the bills piling up. I was able to focus on the things that mattered because I had great insurance. I didn't have to worry about becoming a financial burden to my family. But many Americans were not so lucky. Before Obamacare, insurance companies were allowed to deny people like me health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. Now the 129 million Americans who are like me and have a pre-existing condition - which is NOT their fault - do not need to live in fear. But the man responsible for making sure Georgians like me can get health insurance is do everything he can to turn me back into a pre-existing condition. We can’t trust him to do his job and implement health care! If Republicans in Congress and Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens had their way and repealed the law, we would go back to the old system where nearly 1 in 5 people who applied for coverage in the individual market was denied coverage. I'm not ready to accept this. And I'm not willing to go back to a world where my health was dependent not on a condition I have, but the whims of insurance companies putting their bottom line over my health. Join me in protecting Obamacare by demanding Hudgens resign or be removed from office. Thank you for your support, Keisha Kuma