I’m writing to urge readers to join me in writing to your representatives with your personal story of how health care reform would affect you and your family. If you want to see health care reform happen, it is so important that you let your representatives know why! To find out who your representatives are, go to www.votesmart.com and type in your zip code on the top left.
I am writing to President Obama, my congressional and legislative senators and representatives, the secretary of state and the Oregon and U.S. attorney general as both a patient and a health care provider. As a patient, I want my government to know that my family is suffering from credit card debt and poverty because we’re not able to get affordable health care. As some of you lovely readers know, I contracted E. coli from eating spinach in a local restaurant in August of 2008. I had rare autoimmune reactions to the E. coli called HUS and TTP, and these resulted in my kidneys failing. I spent one month in the hospital, 6 weeks on dialysis and plasma pheresis (plasma exchange) and 6 months out of work. With everything that happened last year, you might imagine that most insurance companies are no longer willing to cover me. I am thankful to get insurance through BCBS’s high risk pool insurance coverage, but the premiums are far from sustainable: $350 a month, plus I pay for 20% of every doctor’s visit, lab, x-ray, etc. needed to maintain my health–and I need a lot of follow-up care. All preventative health care is out-of-pocket, and yes, I have a nice-sized deductible.
As a massage therapist, I am lucky to work with many under-served populations. Offering sliding scale has made it possible for me to work with pregnant and postpartum women desperate for pain relief who could never otherwise receive a massage. Many of these women are not able to afford all of the basic check-ups they need to ensure a healthy pregnancy, or cannot have the birth they want because they can’t afford the provider or facility that is best for them.
I am also blessed with the opportunity to work within my LGBTQ community. I meet many people who are not insured under their partners’ plans because of marriage discrimination. And while some clients are still coming to reduce stress and muscle tension as a preventative health measure, in this economy I’m seeing more and more people wait until the pain from their injuries has become unbearable before they make an appointment.
Join me in creating positive change that will improve the lives of millions! If you believe that everyone has the right to affordable health care, please write to your government representatives as soon as possible. And please–share your story with me via email or up on this blog if you’re so inclined.
this is such an emotional and important issue. we are lucky in portland that there are some resources for people to find practitioners and facilities that offer sliding scale payment options. thank you for encouraging others to take action by sharing their stories and feelings. i envision a day in this country in which everybody is given the opportunity to receive quality health care.