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Dave Wamsley had no choice but to keep his costly health insurance. In remission from stage four Lymphoma and having suffered a heart attack from his chemotherapy regimen, Wamsley said he couldn’t leave his plan even if he wanted. His wife and son were forced to leave his plan because it was not affordable. They took on a separate plan with higher co-pay, Wamsley said, which the family could not afford to use.

Wamsley’s story is common in Michigan because of its highly concentrated health insurance market and inflated premiums for patients and employers, a health insurance policy group says.

Representatives from Health Care for America Now, a national campaign of more than 850 health care organizations, spoke at the United Methodist Church in Lansing on Wednesday to propose an accessible and affordable public insurance plan that would increase competition in Michigan’s private insurance market.

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Rising Number Of Uninsured Destabilizing Michigan's Health Care

  “With the economy worsening, working families are losing access to care, forcing children and adults to put off care for chronic conditions such as asthma and diabetes until a health crisis warrants costly emergency care,” says Garry Faja, President and CEO, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System and East Michigan Regional Executive of Trinity Health, Novi, Mich. “This situation is not sustainable. We must advocate for change at the federal level to make healthcare delivery more efficient while bringing everyone into the system.”

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Freep: Union protests across U.S., including in Detroit, against AIG, banks

The Service Employees International Union held a national day of protest today in Detroit and other cities nationally against big banks and AIG.

The union, which represents 2 million members, is calling for banking reforms, affordable health care for everyone and passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, which makes it easier for workers to form unions.

About 30 SEIU Healthcare members walked into the Bank of America branch in the Guardian Building and used deposit slips to write messages to Kenneth Lewis, the bank’s CEO. The next block over, seven members of SEIU Local 1 handed out fliers and signed up people for a petition the union plans to send to members of Congress.

“The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer,” said Verdell Jackson, a 68-year-old nurse’s assistant who said she can’t retire because the interest rate on her mortgage keeps rising. “Give bonus money to people that do the actual work.”