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John & Barbara Stadler

My name is John Stadler. I was born in Ohio on June 9, 1948. I worked for the Federal Mogual Company for 36 years. Last September my company shut down and moved to Chicago. Since then, I have applied to over 200 different companies but no one would hire me for a full-time job because I am deaf.

Since the fall of 2003, I have been working part-time at Cracker Barrel Restaurant. I have asked the restaurant if they can increase my hours to 32 or more hours per week so that I can get health insurance so I will be able to afford my wife's prescriptions. My wife's name is Barbara and she was born on March 9th, 1950. She has a lot of health problems and we have to buy nine different kinds of prescriptions for her every month. Right now we have to pay for all of her medications out of pocket because we have no health insurance.

Because we are denied the right to health care and health insurance, my wife and I are living on a very tight budget. My boss at Cracker Barrel kept telling me he would increase my hours but then he hired another part-time person. I was very upset about this and I feel very "stuck" without any health insurance. I hope that one day all people will get health insurance and jobs no matter what!