My name is Sarah Krull. I am eighteen years old and one of the millions of Americans that have experienced anxiety and dread as a result of our inefficient health care system.

My name is Michael Kaufman and I am 63 years old. I live in Delaware County. I went without health insurance for 8 years, and couldn’t pay my ER bills and dental bills. Working as a printer and graphic artist for newspapers paid poorly and offered no health insurance. My landlord took a long time to fix a broken sewer pipe which triggered severe asthma causing me to blackout on the way to the emergency room. I didn't even find out that the allegedly unpaid bill was on my credit report until I applied for a mortgage for my place in rural New York about 20 years later, when I had to hurriedly settle up. During that time period I also suffered with impacted wisdom teeth, which caused pain and moved some of my other teeth out of alignment. It took years until a temporary charity dental clinic was set up and painfully removed all of them.

I have been disabled since the year 2000 and am currently enrolled in Medicaid. However, the restrictions and limitations of the program are adversely affecting my quality of life.

My name is Susan. I am 41 years old and I live near Albany. I had a spinal cancer at age 29 and was lucky to have insurance that covered treatment through my union at the time as well as financial assistance from the hospital where I was treated. My cancer treatment was successful; however the long-term effects of that treatment have created new health conditions and exacerbated others which also in ongoing and extensive healthcare costs.

My name is Dara and I live in Rockland County. I am 46 years old and I've lived with depression and ADHD my whole life, so I have seen the worst of our current medical system. For 6 years, I went without health insurance. Doctors where I lived simply wouldn't see you if you didn't have health insurance-- even if you could pay out of pocket! They simply refused. And clinics had waiting lists 3 weeks long, so I had to go to the emergency room when I needed medical care.

When I retired after a 42 year career as a Physical Therapist, I chose a theme to live my retirement years in a healthy and productive way. PTs live their career, first and foremost as a service to others. We’re helpers and encouragers. We’re problem solvers. We help restore motion and strength and flexibility and balance and alleviate pain. We use our hands in the hopes that our touch is a healing balm to those who entrust their care to us.