Teresa Bross pays through the nose for ICHIP insurance. She looks forward to 2014 and the elimination of exclusionary pre-existing condition clauses.
When health care reform passed, Teresa picked up the phone and immediately began looking into her new options for insurance. Diagnosed with asthma and severe allergies, she has been excluded from the [...]

Terry and her husband have struggled to keep their insurance and get coverage for their health issues.
Teresa Zduncyk of Brookfield is over 50 and has been unemployed for 18 months. With continuing job cuts in the banking industry, it has become increasingly hard for her to find work in her field.
In 2003, Teresa had insurance [...]

Blue Cross Blue Shield cancels a couples’ policy, leaving them with a $200,000 medical bill.
When Linda’s Blue Cross Blue Shield of IL COBRA coverage ended for her and her husband on December 31, 2008, their premium jumped from $577.00 to $1,036.30 per month. In order to save money, her husband switched from a BCBS of [...]

Melody, a Chicago resident, deals with the painful repercussions of second class health care.
While on Medicaid, Melody developed flesh-eating bacteria that caused severe damage around her tailbone, eating away at her pelvic structure and lower back.  Medicaid did not cover the reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation services her illness required.  Instead, she was given inadequate treatment, [...]

As they graduate from college and begin their careers, youths often go without health insurance.

Susan moved to Chicago from Michigan to attend design school.  She had health insurance through her stepfather, which meant she paid a reasonable monthly co-pay to obtain her ADD (attention deficit disorder) medication.  Without a job, Susan relies on loans to [...]