While I appreciate your written response to my most recent letter, I do not believe that a conflict exists between protecting what are considered "pre-existing conditions" with the new healthcare plan and working to replace those parts of the plan that are controversial, such as the mandate for coverage. I never thought that as a brain tumor survivor I would see my survival as a financial liability to my family. The toll it has already taken on my family can be seen in my children's needs and fears as my oldest son, who is 8, asks me before bedtime not to die. I lived a careful and healthy life. I do not engage in risk-taking behaviors; behaviors such as choosing to smoke, drunk driving, and drug use. No one has proposed using those as a measure of health predictors, rather than circumstances outside of individual control.
My focus needs to be on continuing to heal, caring for my family, and preparing to be able to work full-time again. It should not be on working to live, which current proposals would necessitate. Some estimates propose that my yearly healthcare premium would cost more than my entire brain surgery and hospital stay. This premium would not even mean that all coverage is met, it simply means I would have "access" to healthcare. For transparency my brain surgery and hospital stay were approximately $55,000. With my medications, therapies, and follow-up care I pay, out of pocket, a few thousand dollars per year.
I beg you, let survivors continue to thrive. Let us triumph and move forward to live and grow and contribute. I am doing everything in my power to show my children what living really is. Living is moving beyond challenges, continuing to grow and thrive. All I ask is a fair shot, let me live without fear that some insurance agency will decide at a later time that my life is a liability, that resiliency and determination mean nothing. Let me continue to live my life, on a level playing field.
Respectfully,
Making Lemonaid
