From CNN's Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen

It's Empower Me! Friday! Today we are answering a question from Leonard, a viewer who is looking to hire a patient advocate to help him get his HMO to pay for charges he says they won't reimburse. Leonard is not alone; many other people are in the same situation. Here are some places you can go to find a patient advocate.

www.billadvocates.com: That's the website for the Medical Billing Advocates of America. Among other things, they offer a state-by-state guide of patient advocates.

www.healthcareadvocacy.org: Along with helping you navigate the health care maze, Healthcare Advocacy can help manage medical debt.

www.patientadvocate.org: That's the website for the Patient Advocate Foundation. They're a good resource if you need assistance with specific issues with an insurer, employer and/or creditor regarding insurance, job retention and/or debt crisis matters relative to their diagnosis of life threatening or debilitating diseases.

www.npaf.org: The National Patient Advocate Foundation can help you understand what the laws are in your state and the different ways it's possible to get coverage if you're uninsured.

So how much does it cost to hire a health care advocate? Some non-profits offer the service for free, while some for-profit businesses charge up to $300 an hour.

Got a health care problem you'd like us to try and solve? Drop us an email at empoweredpatient@cnn.com.

As Honduras' political crisis drags on, my thoughts turn to the people I met there just last month. I wonder if Lohany's opportunity for an education will be affected. Will Anna Corina meet her dream of going to medical school?

I recently returned from a two-week trip to Honduras, where I visited a number of rural villages as part of a medical mission. I experienced first-hand the living conditions of thousands of Hondurans. Traveling with a group of physicians, I saw and helped treat more than a thousand Honduran villagers who don't have access to any level of medical care on a regular basis. Although Honduras has dense urban centers like Tegucigalpa, much of the country remains rural. Living conditions are rough - most villagers live in one or two-room thatched roof huts with dirt floors.
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In our 12 o'clock hour, CNN's Josh Levs gives us the truth regarding some rumors you've probably heard about health care reform. Here, he shows us where we can go to get the facts. Check out the sites below to empower yourself.

CNNPolitics.com
CNN Political Ticker
FactCheck.org
PolitiFact.com
Congressional Budget Office
1000-page bill before the House

Would you attend a health care town hall meeting if you could?

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As you’ve probably seen - some of the meetings have turned into shouting matches –but others have remained civil, and serious issues are being addressed. We want to know what you think. Would you attend a health care town hall meeting if you could? Tell us why.

Is health care a fundamental American right, regardless of a person's ability to pay?

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No

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What do you think?

Remember last year - when members of Congress attacked the CEOs of the Big Three automakers for flying private jets to Washington to attend a hearing for possible bailout money? Well, flash forward to the present - and many taxpayer watchdogs are saying that congress has authorized nearly $200 million in additional spending so that members can fly in style.

Congress recently passed the Defense Appropriations Bill which included funding for three new Gulfstream jets - assigned to an Air Force unit. But it is reported that these jets will be used to shuttle congress members around the nation and world 20 percent of the time. The Air Force had asked for one Gulfstream jet priced at about $65 million, but the House Appropriations Committee added another $132 million for two more airplanes.

What do you think? Let us know and we'll read some of your comments on-air.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, two American Journalists, are returning home today (read full story here). They had been prisoners in North Korea since March. This is at a time of particularly chilled relations between the U.S. and North Korea - after North Korea’s recent nuclear testing and missile launchings. Many are wondering – how, exactly, did former President Bill Clinton manage to secure their release?

We want to know what you think. Were the captured journalists turning into a liability for North Korea?

Although we probably don’t like to admit it, many of us are guilty of having sent a text while driving. If you were told that texting while driving could increase your chance of getting into an accident by more than 20 times…would it make you think twice before reaching for your cell phone? Well, new research from Virginia Tech suggests just this. And the Government is planning to do something about it.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is meeting with a committee of experts next month to figure out what to do about the problem and says that if it were up to him, he would ban texting while driving altogether. What would you do? Do you think the Government should implement and enforce this ban?

We are just past the marking of President Obama’s first six months in office and just before the marking of his second 100 days in office. So how well do Americans believe he is doing?

CNN’s most recent poll of polls shows President Obama’s overall approval rating has dropped to 54%. Compare this to the ratings of the previous four Presidents at this point in their presidencies…and we find that President Obama ranks second to last, beating only President Clinton.

How about Americans’ opinion of their President’s performance on two hot button issues – health care and the economy? People are talking – when will we see health care reform and who will end up paying for it? Will the myriad economic stimulus programs - including ones that now need additional gas (a la “Cash for Clunkers”) - prove successful? According to CNN’s late July poll of polls, 43% of Americans approve of President Obama’s performance on health care… and 48% of Americans approve of his performance when it comes to the economy.

We want to know what you think. What’s your opinion of the President’s performance and how would you interpret these rankings? Leave us a comment below.

Could the so-called “Great Recession” finally be coming to an end?

Many economists are pointing to recent signs of an upturn in the economy. In fact, President Obama spoke yesterday, highlighting these signs. He said that job losses are slowing… that housing prices have gone up for the first time in 3 years…and that the credit system, banking system and financial markets have generally settled down.

Given these indicators, we want to know what you think. Do you believe that we have hit bottom and are on our way up? Share your thoughts or story here.