We liked Cindy right away – it’s hard not to. Friendly with a warm smile and a quick laugh, she and her husband Russ invited us into their apartment last weekend in Fargo, ND. For such an upbeat person, it’s hard to believe the stress she and her family are under every day because of health care costs.

Cindy and her two daughters currently have health insurance through COBRA. It’s a $600 monthly expense that doesn’t include coverage for Russ. With other expenses such as prescription drugs rolled in, it all adds up to about $800 a month – more than their apartment and car payment combined, says Cindy. It’s forcing this family to make choices they’ve never had to make before.

With their retirement savings nearly depleted, all but the most essential expenses have been cut - no internet service, no haircuts or clothes shopping. For the first time this family of four has started using a local food bank’s services. It’s embarrassing, Cindy told us, but they’ll do what they have to do to pay for health insurance.

It’s not just the current premiums and expenses that have them strapped. They’re still paying off bills from tests and treatments for Cindy’s thyroid cancer a year and half ago. Then, a week before we arrived, Cindy succumbed and went to the emergency room after several days of severe stomach pains and vomiting that was keeping her from even sleeping. The bill hadn’t arrived yet, but between the deductible and co-pays, Cindy knows it’s going to be another insulting injury to an already intolerable situation.

Helping others in the Fargo community is a big part of their lives, despite their own financial struggles, A paralegal who specializes in disability and workers comp, she offers assistance to people with these type of legal problems in her off time. She and her husband Russ lend their musical talents for good causes, and we were lucky enough to catch them in a rehearsal for a benefit concert to help get a feminist newspaper off the ground in Fargo.

As for their own situation, Cindy and family are taking it one day at a time. But there is one rule: “No one is allowed to get sick”. They just can’t afford for that to happen, even though that’s the very reason they are working so hard to hang onto their health insurance.

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