Vertical line issue - need some suggestions

I have a late 2006 iMac that has been affected by the dreaded vertical line issue on the built in LCD screen. I now have up to 16 multi-colored vertical lines on my display. I tried to contact apple about the free repairs they are conducting to fix this issue. Apple support said that they do not conduct free repairs for this issue any more. Turns out that I missed the deadline by a few months. I think May or June was the cutoff month. I decided to do some research and found a lot of similar cases. I also discovered that some people were still getting their LCD's fixed as an act of "good faith" from Apple. I'm glad they still do for some people, but do not understand why I cannot receive that same service. Some consumers claim their iMac is older than mine, (2005) and are still receiving repairs for free. Is there a reason why i cannot get this fixed and others can? What can I do to receive this same service? Or what can I do to not put too much stress on my pocketbook to fix this? Could i connect a non-apple monitor to my iMac and use that as my main display? I had always liked Apple products and the company but don't really know what to do or think in this case. I haven't been using the computer much because i fear more vertical lines appear and take over my LCD screen.

Thank you for your help =)

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Thanks for understanding!

Sorry to hear of your issues.
If i was you i would ring Apple again and hopefully you talk to a different person and ask again. Don't be condescending and in a calm tone. Be nice about it and mention others still getting theres done. If they say no ask why others are getting it fixed in good faith and you are not.
Or if you have a store close book a appointment with a genius and take it in there. If you front them with the problem and show them how bad it is out of good faith they just might fix it for you.
In it all this, play nice and they just might come good for you.
Im guessing you can hook it up to another monitor no problems.

HTH

Cheers

I think I'm going to try to genius bar because I've gotten the same answers from apple customer support. I have been very nice to them but I can't get an explanation on why other people get hooked up and not me.