Please call your Senators today!
Ask them to protect gun violence survivors and the Affordable Care Act!
In 2013 I was diagnosed with cancer. In 2014 I received medical treatment — shout out to Kaiser Permanente, Southern California — and today I’m happy to report that I continue to be well (except for that obvious and nagging weight problem.) I can honestly say that throughout the surgeries and chemotherapy, a day didn’t go by where I wasn’t grateful for the excellent care I received and that I had health insurance. Every time I paid my small co-pay, I said a quiet thank you to Women Against Gun Violence for providing medical coverage. Every time I paid my small co-pay, I gave an effusive thank you to the Kaiser Permanente receptionist and always remarked on how grateful I was to have health insurance.
These are frightening times for many people. Parents are afraid of losing medical coverage for their ill children. People are afraid of losing the medical coverage that is helping them receive treatment for their chronic conditions. People with disabilities, adults with elderly parents are all afraid. If you watch tv, you’ve seen and heard their pleas.
In all the television coverage on the healthcare debate, we’ve heard very little about gun violence survivors and the importance good health insurance plays in their care, recuperation, and quality of life. For many survivors, future career and educational opportunities are limited. Many must quit or are terminated from their jobs. Pain is constant. Long term physical therapy and mental health care are a necessity.
Each day, there are over 200 non-fatal firearm injuries according to the Center for Disease Control, our nation’s health protection agency. Many of those injured receive the long term care they need because of the Affordable Care Act.
Under today’s latest version of the Senate’s healthcare efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, it is estimated that 16 million people will lose their healthcare and that premiums will increase by 20%. Many of those losing coverage or who will find their premiums increasing beyond their ability to pay will be survivors of gun violence.
Please call your Senators today and tell them to protect the Affordable Care Act and the millions of people who depend on it!
Please share this with your family and friends!
Irony Update: Congress continues to push legislation that puts more guns on the streets of America while at the same time pushing legislation that will deny healthcare to those who will be shot due to the increase of guns on the streets of America.