Gerry Messler

For three years I have worked as a security officer for Hannon Security. Hannon only offers two health insurance plans to their employees. One is a comprehensive plan for management, and one is a bare-bones plan for officers that one manager calls the “Better Than Nothing” Plan.

When I was hospitalized for three days with chest pains, I found out that the officers’ plan wasn’t much better than nothing. As I got ready to leave the hospital, I learned that the bare-bones plan covered only a fraction of my bill.

I don’t make a lot of money guarding the office building of a major insurance company. At 63, a huge hospital bill could have ruined me financially. Fortunately, the hospital wrote off as “charity care” the majority of my bill that the Hannon bare-bones plan didn’t cover.

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The Inkster Family We are blessed with beautiful twin girls – two months earlier than expected in the spring of 2001. Facing the choice of staying home or paying the costs of putting preemie twins in daycare, I continue to feel lucky that I can stay home.

Staying at home turned into a necessity as one of our girls, Kaya began to not develop as quickly as her sister, Ellie. She was not sitting up, rolling over, and did not use her right arm. At 12 months the doctors ordered an image of her brain (MRI) and found that she had a stroke during the pregnancy. She began Physical and Occupational Therapy twice a week when she was 6 months and continues to this day, 5 years later. As the months and years passed other problems began to materialize, such as poor growth, reflux, lack of energy and endurance, and twisting in of her legs and arms.

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