"My family is fortunate because my husband has a job that provides health insurance. Even though I have worked steadily my whole life, my jobs haven't usually provided insurance. If we had to make it on my work, we would not have had health care. "Through the years, as my husband changed jobs, we've gone through a variety of HMOs and preferred provider plans. The result has been nothing short of a mess. At times we've paid thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses. We've lost doctors we liked when we switched jobs and got a different health care plan. We've even lost health insurance when an employer stopped paying the bills and didn't tell the employees. "When we were younger, we both went through periods when we had no health insurance. We've both had to defer care because we had no coverage. "And it's not just us. Everyone we know has similar stories. Our health care system is a national disgrace. People end up working deadend jobs just to keep health insurance. Over 40 million people are uninsured. Many more have deductibles they can't afford. As a result, people can't get treatment, or end up postponing care. For a significant number of these people, the lack of health care results in a shorter life. "I support a universal, comprehensive, national single-payer health insurance program. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world without a national health care system. Our system is plagued by high costs and unequal access. Countries that have national health care achieve high life expectancies at a fraction of the money we spend in the U.S. "The bottom line is: health care should not be a privilege. Our life expectancy should not be tied to how good of a job we have. Health care is a right for all people, in all countries, but especially here in the wealthiest country in the world."