Health Care Advocacy

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina controls 53% of our state health insurance market. Together with United Health Group, our state's #2 insurer, these two companies control 73% of the market. With this kind of "competition," is it any wonder our insurance premiums have risen 75% in the last ten years, 5.3 times faster than our wages, squeezing families and small business alike? There is a severe lack of competition in North Carolina when it comes to health insurance, which mirrors the picture nationally, according to a new report released today by Health Care for America Now:

I am one of the millions of uninsured Americans. My story is not unique but is complicated and I have shared it openly in multiple venues with multiple media sources to raise awareness of the plight of the uninsured and to advocate for health care reform. For the first time, our nation is having serious discussions on health care reform. In every story I read, in every discussion I hear, people are asked about the costs of the uninsured. I can speak to the personal costs of being uninsured because I have lived that life for too long.