America's healthcare industry is in desperate need of repair. Not only does it need to be fixed, but the American public needs to know why and what exactly needs to be fixed. Most Americans who have health coverage don't know or understand what their coverage entails. On November 8, 2009, the House passed H.R. 3962, which establishes standards for health care and health insurance, as well as a government-provided public option for those who cannot afford coverage. Politicians are so divided on the issue that conservatives have vowed to block the bill's passage in the Senate with a filibuster. There are millions of uninsured or underinsured citizens in this country. Imagine your mother is diagnosed with cancer, but has health insurance. Even if you have health insurance, your claims may be denied as a pre-existing condition or treatments may not be covered under your plan, but if you try to update your coverage, you will again be hit with a denial due to a pre-existing condition. Stories like this are increasingly common across America. The number of underinsured or uninsured citizens in the United States has increased in recent years. People can have insurance and still be considered underinsured; not all plans cover even basic healthcare. The underinsured don't worry about saving money, a concern that is no longer limited to the lower-middle class or those living at the poverty level. “The lack of adequate insurance coverage, the study finds, is not a problem limited to low-income people. Adults with incomes below the poverty level are at the highest risk of being uninsured or underinsured, but "insurance erosion has spread the income distribution down to the middle-income range," the authors say. For this... half of the paper... & McGinn-Shapiro, M. (2009, July 24). Healthcare and the middle class: more costs and less coverage. Retrieved November 11, 2009, from the Kaiser Family Foundation website: http://www.kff.org/healthreform/upload/7951.pdfSchoen, C., Collins, S.R., Kriss, J.L., & Doty, M.M. (2008, 10 June ). How many are underinsured? Trends Among US Adults, 2003 and 2007. Retrieved November 7, 2009, from the Commonwealth Fund website: http://www.commonwealthfund.org/Content/Publications/In-the-Literature/2008/Jun/How-Many-Are -Underinsured--Trends-Among-US--Adults--2003-and-2007.aspxTeslik, L.H., & Johnson, T. (2009, March 04). Healthcare costs and competitiveness of the United States. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from the Council on Foreign Relations website: http://www.cfr.org/publication/13325/United States, United States House of Congress. (2009). H.R. 3962: Affordable Health Care for America Act.