#IamAPreExisitingCondition: Brave Americans Tweet Their Health Care Challenges Under New GOP Plan
“Cancer survivor & voter. I won’t forget the names of the ‘leaders’ that lacked the courage to do the right thing”
Would you be willing to tell the world your most private medical conditions? What if it could help sway public opinion – and that of your lawmakers in Washington – to help them understand why the bill Republicans passed on Thursday would be devastating for you, and millions like you?Â
The Republican bill will allow insurance companies to charge anyone with a pre-existing condition a lot more for coverage. ObamaCare prohibits that.
Congressman Mo Brooks, a Republican from Alabama, this week told CNN people who have lived “good lives,” and therefore, in his mind, don’t have pre-exising conditions, shouldn’t have to pay more for those who do have pre-existing conditions. (In fairness, he didn’t blame everyone with a pre-existing condition for having one, just some.)
That’s of course not how insurance works.Â
Many people don’t even know that just going to a doctor to have, say a lump in their breast checked out, could place them on an insurance company’s list of people with pre-existing conditions, regardless of the diagnosis. Under the Affordable Care Act, it wouldn’t matter. Under the Republican plan, it could skyrocket their costs, or make them ineligible for certain coverage.Â
If you ever suffered from depression, and saw a doctor or mental health professional for it, at any point in your life, even just once, you’ve got a pre-existing condition. If you’re pregnant, you’ve got a pre-existing condition. As a former retail executive, I can’t tell you how many women I couldn’t hire because they were or were trying to become pregnant and wouldn’t afford to risk losing their insurance to change companies.
Jimmy Kimmel this week made it clear that some people, like his newborn baby, will forever be labeled as having a pre-existing condition, right from birth.Â
To prove the point, perhaps, and more importantly, to help Republican lawmakers understand what their bill will do to millions of Americans who have pre-exisitng conditions, people are taking to Twitter, using the hashtag #IamAPreExisitingCondition, to share the most-personal details of their lives.
Hopefully, the message will get through to enough Republicans to stop this monstrosity of a bill.
Congratulations, and thank you to all these brave people willing to speak out against the monstrous idea of relegating people with pre-existing conditions to high-risk pools that will cost them a lot more money and may make it impossible for them to get coverage by making it personal.
To my senators @SenThomTillis @SenatorBurr I have Type 1 diabetes & w/o insulin I will die. #IamAPreExisitingCondition #NoACHA pic.twitter.com/71I5XX2coo
— Jessica Lynn-Lato (@Jettlynnlato) May 5, 2017
Me, a DV & Rape Survivor, have anxiety/depression. I would be denied healthcare, but my abuser gets to keep his. #IamAPreExisitingCondition
— Mel Rice (@Paleo_Diva) May 5, 2017
On 10/11/16 my friend @adamteterus invested in my life & the treatment of my kidney disease by giving me kidney.#IamAPreExisitingCondition pic.twitter.com/eUKvBZf1du
— Octavius Prime (@OctaviusANewman) May 5, 2017
I am a living donor. Will I be denied affordable care under #AHCA due to my donation being considered a “pre-existing condition�
— Skrt Skrt Vonnegut (@adamteterus) May 4, 2017
Cancer survivor & voter. I won’t forget the names of the “leaders” that lacked the courage to do the right thing #IamAPreExisitingCondition pic.twitter.com/3vFtFvAbch
— Kimberlee Cornett (@kr_cornett) May 5, 2017
#IamAPreExisitingCondition, bc I was diagnosed with T1 diabetes at age 5, just like my dad. @BeyondType1 pic.twitter.com/y2WRPFZ9fg
— Nicki Nichols (@nickinichols21) May 5, 2017
#IamAPreExisitingCondition Dozen years out & counting, or until the #GOP kills me. #healthcare pic.twitter.com/NDAOPpfk9x
— Lynda Gorov (@lyndagorov) May 5, 2017
I have 17 yr old daughter with depression – she now has 2 pre-existing conditions, because she is also female.#IamAPreExisitingCondition pic.twitter.com/o6McGg5NKi
— CitizenKayS🌱 (@CitizenKayS) May 5, 2017
Duodenal cancer and Lynch syndrome patient. #iamapreexisitingcondition #preexistingconditons #trumpcare pic.twitter.com/WhYj5J2Rat
— Paige Mustain (@Paige_Mustain) May 5, 2017
#iamapreexisitingcondition clinical depression and social anxiety disorder
— Elizabeth Lutece (@AtheneGreyOwl) May 5, 2017
Private ins.+ Medicaid have kept him alive. Prognosis was not surviving early childhood. Now 26! #IamAPreExisitingCondition pic.twitter.com/slFrYNyNVN
— bsmiz (@bsmiz) May 5, 2017
#IamAPreExisitingCondition #Type1Diabetic of 10 years @BeyondType1 @POTUS pic.twitter.com/XvX5ezTLNV
— Allie Ryan (@Ayyryy5) May 5, 2017
Asthma, ADHD, seizures, and a mommy that suffered PPD post c-section. #IamAPreExisitingCondition #resist pic.twitter.com/SC9Opl8nwI
— ACisme (@ACteachAC) May 5, 2017
Down syndrome. Open heart surgery @ 6 mo. #iamapreexistingcondtion pic.twitter.com/akr3w3ldg9
— Alex Carmichal (@tekmagika) May 5, 2017
#IamAPreExisitingCondition 31 year old rape survivor with PTSD, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and a thyroid disorder. The AHCA could kill me.
— faith5by5_1013 (@faith5by5_1013) May 5, 2017
Type 1 diabetes for 35 years. #IamAPreExisitingCondition pic.twitter.com/5OIaJU6fjB
— Scott Wilhelm (@scottawilhelm) May 5, 2017
I only have one kidney because I saved a life, don’t punish my gift! #livingdonor #IamAPreExisitingCondition #NoACHA pic.twitter.com/NO50E3jTc8
— Julie Dunham (@Onemommaofthree) May 5, 2017
I have PTSD and depression from a childhood of abuse and rape at the hands of my “good Christian step father”#IamAPreExisitingCondition
— Kittie9000 (@Kittie9000) May 5, 2017
#IamAPreExisitingCondition having survived cancer twice in less than two years. https://t.co/ZkcRySWMcZ
— Tamara Swerline (@Tamara_Swerline) May 5, 2017
Breast Cancer, 2 brain tumors, and resulting paralysis. Not to mention 6 others that I can count. #IamAPreExisitingCondition #Trumpcare pic.twitter.com/6bit0OElBn
— Stephanie Joyce (@StephanieAJoyce) May 5, 2017
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