We're paying more these days for just about everythinhg just about everywhere, at the grocery store, the gas station and for insurance. It's taking a toll on metro families.

Lena Claussen of Omaha is worried she'll soon have to make the choice between gassing up her car or giving her 7-year-old the medication he needs. She worries it's a sign of the times and wonders how many other families are in the same bind she's in.

Two-year-old Xander Claussen's only job in life is to play. His mother's job is to shoulder the worries in hard economic times. "You've gotta decide between bills, gas and food,” says Lena. The higher costs are painfully present at the grocery store with staples like milk up 26 percent from last year and eggs up 40 percent.

Grocery bills are just one more thing adding to Lena's concerns. With four kids, she stays home. "And it's not by choice, it's I don't have any other way right now."

Lena says she can't go back to work because day care costs too much. Her husband's job pays the bills, but doesn't cover health insurance. "It was just not within our means to be able to afford."

The kids were covered by Medicaid, but her husband's paycheck just got a kick. It puts them just over the cut-off income for Medicaid. "I think people need to be looked at a little bit more closely, on an individual basis instead of just a statistic."

She doesn't know how they'll cover 7-year-old Bryce's prescriptions. "If he doesn't take them, he lashes out real bad. That ADHD, it's brutal."

She says even covering the basics is a hard road these days. There are no easy answers, just shared struggles, which Lena predicts we'll be seeing more of. "It's not just me that I worry about. There's lots of other families."

Lena's not quite sure what her next step will be. She did contact Congressman Lee Terry's office and encourages other families to contact lawmakers as well to bring more attention to the need for affordable health care coverage.

She'd like to see the system change, to look at individual cases more closely, rather than an across-the-board income cut-off.