The following entry was a finalist in our J.Doe Contest where people shared their challenges with health care.  

We are the in between, forgotten family. Our income falls above the Federal Poverty Level yet below the level that is enough to afford costly medical bills. We cannot get assistance from any source I investigate, yet we struggle, day in and day out with our co-pays, insurance premiums and other bills. We can’t pay off these bills anymore; we just pay the minimum to avoid the creditors.  Now, even this is getting difficult to do.  I did not think my childhood dreams of white picket fences and starting a family would turn into grown-up dreams of being debt free and affording healthy food and clothes for my children. My stay in the ICU after heart surgery two years ago is still being paid monthly, and will continue for years. Then came my breast cancer diagnosis, lumpectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. Now we are faced with one more year of chemo and hormone-reducing pills.  My husband will not deny my treatment.  The days continue as the bills keep adding up. I have stacks of claims to follow-up on, phone calls to make, and bills to sort through.   Keeping track of all of this is a full-time job but when you are in the midst of radiation and still working, it’s all you can do to take care of the everyday things. We would be blessed to have a ray of hope to help us out.  We silently struggle but now I am concerned our silent struggle will choke us. A small boost, a small miracle is what I am requesting; one that will ease our burden and put us on the road to recovery. We turn to God for our hope and you for our solution, hopefully you both can work together.