To The Politicians Who Voted To Kill Me [View all]

[sheshe2]

I want you to know what it feels like when politicians prioritize their hatred of a president and a policy over your literal means to live.



Late at night, while most of us were sleeping, the Senate voted to kill me. I’m sure that some of you will call me dramatic and say that I’m exaggerating. “They’re not going to repeal the Affordable Care Act without replacing it―and with something better!”

I’ve heard this so many times, yet even as the repeal has been voted on in the Senate and has been introduced in the House, I still haven’t seen a replacement bill introduced. Hell, I haven’t even heard a vague idea from one of the lawmakers so convinced that the ACA is terrible that they’re willing to strip 30 million Americans of their insurance. All I’ve seen is a rejection of any measure put forth to save “essential” aspects of the bill, each denial like a noose tightening around my neck. Keeping young people on their parents’ insurance until they’re 26. Rejected. Coverage for pre-existing conditions. Rejected.

But as I have been told so many times by those of you who support taking away my insurance, my ability to live: “health care isn’t a right.” This is often said with a smug incredulity at the idea that I feel “entitled” to lifesaving treatments, as if I’m asking for a Lexus instead of an ability to be hospitalized without complete financial ruin.

snip//

So to the politicians who voted to repeal the ACA, I say this: I hope that you have to feel the pain that I have to go through. I could try to be a better person and say that I didn’t wish this on anybody, but at this point, the only way for you to understand the real, heartbreaking pain that millions of Americans like me are feeling is to actually experience it. I want you to know what it’s like to cry yourself to sleep because you don’t know if you’ll be able to access the medications that keep you alive. I want you to know what it’s like to feel guilty about how much your treatment costs, even though you know there’s nothing you can do about it. I want you to know what it feels like when politicians prioritize their hatred of a president and a policy over your literal means to live. I want you to know what it’s like to live in pain and sickness and to have people say that your desire to alleviate that suffering without experiencing complete financial ruin is “entitlement.”

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/to-the-politicians-who-voted-to-kill-me_us_587ae6f6e4b03e071c14fdbc?123123

The cruelty pains me. Entitlement to live? Entitlement. Tears.