FORT MYERS, Fla - Yamilette Lopez has had type I diabetes since she was 8 years old.

The mother of two depends on her testing supplies and insulin pump to regulate her sugar throughout the day and would not be able to afford those supplies without health insurance.

"My husband has to paint a lot of cars in order to pay for my insurance," said Lopez, who runs the office at her husband's auto body shop.

The Lopez' pay around $1400 a month just for an individual insurance plan just for Yamilette and when she tries to shop for a better rate, she says she gets denied.

"I've called, I've asked and on the phone they'll tell me yes, but when I fill out the application and I tell them I'm a type one diabetic with an insulin pump they deny me right away," said Lopez.

We watched as she called several companies for a price quote, and the moment she disclosed her condition they denied her coverage for her supplies.

"I have to get my medicine, I have to get my insulin." America's Health Insurance Plans, a lobbying group for the insurance industry, said that people with pre-existing conditions are often denied because it would drive up the cost for everyone else.

"If you have guaranteed covered where people aren't excluded for pre-existing conditions then there's an incentive for people to wait until they are sick before they purchase coverage," said Robert Zirkelbach, the press secretary for AHIP.

Lopez believes the health insurance reform bill would lower her premiums because insurance companies would no longer be able to exclude people with pre-existing conditions.

AHIP agrees that a reform bill needs to pass, however, they say exclusions could not be removed unless there is a provision made for everyone to purchase health insurance.

"To make that work, everyone has to be participating to ensure that healthcare is affordable for as many people as possible," said Zirkelbach.

But a top Democrat believes people like Lopez would be paying more under the current bill. Former DNC Chair and presidential candidate Howard Dean, says the bill could cause Americans with pre-existing conditions to be paying as much as three times higher than healthy Americans.

Lopez is already paying thousands more for coverage than healthy people.

In our first shopping experiment, we found insurance quotes for a single mom, a college student and a retiree at a far less expensive price and did not witness anyone get denied coverage.

Conservative lawmakers like Rep. Connie Mack, FL-14, oppose the bill completely. Congressman Mack sent us this statement in response to our story:

"A government takeover of our health care system - which is exactly what the Democratic Leadership in Congress is pushing to do - would limit health care choices for Americans, diminish the doctor-patient relationship, and ultimately increase costs for everyone. We should instead seek free-market solutions that will help small business owners pool together to purchase insurance and spread risks over a larger group of people, allow individuals to purchase insurance across state lines, curb frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits (which increase costs and discourage doctors from practicing specialty care), and preserve the doctor-patient relationship."

A vote on the Senate Democrats draft of the healthcare reform bill is expected before Christmas. Senate Democrats' Healthcare Draft Bill
Senate Republicans' Executive Summary of Healthcare Bill