By Jessi Bolmer, Home Care Worker, Olney, IL
House Republicans' sweeping spending bill, the Big Ugly Betrayal, is scheduled to gut our nation's healthcare system within the next few years. It will raise costs for all of us, and dismantle many other critical programs families rely on. But the fight is still ON, and our stories are key.
We all have or know of #HealthCareHorrorStories. I've got mine, and my newfound friend (another Jessi) has hers.
I know personally that one thing beyond our control can cause a person to need serious help. Despite working two jobs, I was forced to choose between rent and chemotherapy. So my car became my new home.
But once I qualified for Medicaid, I was able to save money. Hear my story.
Not far from me in Wisconsin, another young woman is desperately fighting for her life. Born with a genetic disorder, Jessi's monthly medications alone cost $40K - $45K before Medicaid.
Says her mom, Sarah, a registered nurse: "Between that and her routine care, we’d be bankrupt in months without Medicaid. We could never afford her care, and no private insurance would touch her, and you know that. I'm not okay with having to make impossible decisions to make the richest people richer. That's all this is, they aren't hiding that."
Reject greed. Text ProtectMedicaid to 787-753 to get involved. We still have an opportunity to save the public programs we all rely on.
Our communities need more care, not less. We must take care of each other.
