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Cindy Hutch's picture

Just imagine, if you were in a fire and the Paramedics came to your assistance, would you turn that help and rescue away...tell them,  "We don't need you?"  This is not rocket science friends, folks are going to seek help when they need it and it’s time to close the coverage to make sure these emergencies don’t cost tax payers more money.

And the reality is that some of these emergencies could have been prevented—especially in reference to maintenance for chronic conditions, like Type 1 Diabetes. Everyone lately is on the "get healthy" kick, which is great, however, many may not know that Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes has nothing to do often with being overweight.  Therefore, all of the nutritious eating in the world won't fix it. This means having affordable healthcare is a necessity. Just take a moment and think…What if this were my family member and help was available, but they’re not able to get it because it’s not politically beneficial for the governor of the state where I live?

The age old saying, "We will cross that bridge when we get to it", is one that my Dad always used to tell me as growing up. With Father's Day coming, I'm certainly missing my Daddy who passed away in 2005. No disrespect to my Dad, but this diagnosis of Type I diabetes was a bridge that appeared outta NOWHERE and I was waaaay far from desiring to cross it! This is why we need to expand coverage for all families, because there has to be some support to cross that bride when we need to.
 
What stunned my husband and myself the most was when we learned that there was no cure for this disease.  To top it all off, our son Brandon was the ONE person in our family whom NEVER even liked to eat sweets!   That didn't stop his mom from purchasing the book, "Sweet Kids" to help manage his diabetes we now found ourselves experiencing.  At the hospital, Brandon’s older brother Benjamin picked out a "get well" card for his lil brother with a picture of a sad faced egg on the front and on the inside it read, "Even good eggs like you get sick sometimes."  (Tears)

This is why we are sooo VERY blessed & grateful to live in a state that has expanded Medicaid under the ACA—because coverage for my amazing son is a necessity, not a luxury. It may be difficult for folks to empathize unless you’ve found yourself in the position of having EXPENSIVE medical needs, which are difficult or impossible to meet. Consequently, I can understand why some people may say, "Since it doesn't affect me, why should I care?"   Maybe seeing it in a different light with compassion and knowing that "Diseases don't discriminate" may help.  You see, people who get sick or just have an everyday accident in many cases haven't done anything wrong.  How a particular party can vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act over 50 times is certainly appalling to me.   


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