The Story from APM

A Mom Seeks Health Care Reform

Wednesday, September 16 2009

A Mom Seeks Health Care Reform

Ann Marie Morse

Ann Marie Morse watched President Obama's speech to the joint session of Congress last week with vivid interest. Ann Marie has health insurance, but she knows how a catastrophic illness can change everything in an instant.

Her daughter Michelle became seriously ill in college with colon cancer. Doctors suggested that Michelle leave college to pursue chemotherapy. But leaving school would mean a dramatic increase in her parents' health insurance bills. Michelle and her parents faced an agonizing choice. Michelle stayed in school, but Ann Marie got angry. She decided to try to change the law in New Hampshire and ended up pushing through a new federal law that goes into effect in October. Under the law, health insurance companies must extend coverage to college students who leave school for up to one year in the event of illness. Ann Marie joins Dick Gordon to tell about how her daughter's illness and death galvanized her to seek health insurance reform.

• See pictures of Michelle
  
• Find out more about Michelle's Law

Out of Work, Out of Insurance

Cindy Shawcross

Cindy Shawcross thought she had done everything right. She went to school, got a good job, and she thought she had good health care insurance. Then she got cancer and spent her savings paying for her treatments.

Now Cindy says she can't afford to take her kids to the doctor for minor injuries like sprained ankles and broken fingers. She tells Dick how her insurance woes have forced her to make decisions she never thought she'd have to make.

• Learn more about stories like Cindy's here