You have health insurance, right?

Think you’re covered, right?

Think again.

Or just ask Donna Smith.

“I’m one of millions of Americans who carry health insurance – I always have, always will,” Smith told Single Payer Action. “I also carry disability insurance and a health care savings account. And yet when my husband became ill with a chronic illness and then I was diagnosed with cancer –  within a very short about of time, we found out the limitations of private insurance.”

“All the clauses, and maximum amount of pocket expenses and all the things that Americans will find out if they ever actually use their private insurance,” Smith said. “They don’t keep you covered.  We ended up losing everything we worked a lifetime to achieve.  We sold the house before we went bankrupt, so we lost everything we took a lifetime to achieve.”

“Actually today is our 33rd wedding anniversary so it’s one of those days that’s really important to me to think about,” Smith said. “How in the world do I look at the past 33 years and realize that 20 of them have been spent in this horrific battle to make sure that we maintain some stability as middle class Americans?”

“We’re not slackers. We’re not people who stood by the sidelines. So when I started to fight for health care justice for all American citizens, the only sensible way, for me, seemed through single payer.  It’s the most cost efficient for my family and millions of others.”

“When I add up what I pay in private insurance premiums and out of pocket costs it well exceeds what I’d pay under a single payer plan. My paycheck will be better under a single payer plan.  Higher every week than what I get now. So I’ll have more money in my pocket. I will choose where I got to the doctor, who I get care from, and if I like that person I’ll go to them more and if not I’ll switch to another person.”

“It’s also better for my nation. I love this country and I want us to do the best we can possibly can for our citizens.”

So, will we get single payer in the United States?

“We will win it like every other great human rights struggle in the history of this nation,” Smith said. “We’ll win it. But we’re going to have to work hard, we’re going to have to fight together, we’re going to have to stand up for what we know is right and that is that every American is entitled to health care.”

(Donna Smith is now an organizer with the California Nurses Association. For the complete Interview with Donna Smith, see video here.)