Two weeks ago, we attended the Netroots blogger conference in Austin, TX., a four-day gathering of more than 2,000 bloggers in the heart of the Lone Star State. One attendee described the conference as the one time a year when a group of bloggers leave their basements to discuss politics. When asked if bloggers talked to each other at the conference he said, “Yes, but only through their computers.”

We sat in on the health care discussions, talked to others about the Cover American Tour and asked bloggers about their health care experiences.

Jill Richardson and Donna Smith were two attendees that shared their health care woes with us. Jill, a food blogger, started to develop severe migraines and eventually lost her job because of them. Her neurologist strongly recommended that she be admitted to a hospital in Michigan that specializes in treating headaches. Her insurance company wouldn’t cover her treatment in this hospital. Their reasoning, according to Jill: “You’re not dying.”

We also talked with Donna Smith. She may look familiar; her story was shown in the movie “Sicko,” the Michael Moore documentary of the health care system. A few years ago Donna and her husband Larry had to move in with their daughter after their medical bills became too much to handle.

What’s happened since? Eventually, she and Larry saved up enough money to move out of their daughter’s home and Larry is now covered under Medicare.

After going through one of the roughest times of her life, Donna made the decision to become an outspoken advocate for health care reform. She now speaks at health care rallies and events and she told her story in front of the House Judiciary Committee last year. She now works for the California Nurses Association in Chicago. Her email signature says it all: “I am a patient, not a profit.”

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