“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.
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