Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Ellen's Fax to John McCain

To Senator McCain and Staff,

I'm writing to express my strong opposition to any repeal, partial repeal, or defunding of the Affordable Care Act. 

Obamacare is the reason my father is alive today. After losing his job and subsequently the insurance provided by his employer, both of my parents were able to buy health insurance, health insurance they would not otherwise have been able to get, as both have 'preexisting conditions'. When my dad started experiencing chest pains, having insurance gave him the confidence to go to the emergency room knowing that it would not bankrupt his family. My dad freely admits that if he had not had insurance, he would likely have waited to see if the pain went away - waiting that would have killed him, as the tension pneumothorax pushed his heart to the wrong side of his chest. 

Much can - and should - be said about the high financial cost of repealing the ACA, about the number of people who will lose insurance, about the many successes of the ACA in cutting the number of uninsured and reducing health coverage costs for low income families, but here's the most important truth: repealing the ACA will kill people. 

I trust that the Senator will take this into consideration when planning his votes, and I hope to see a statement from the Senator opposing a reckless repeal of the ACA soon. 

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Ellen Green
Tucson, AZ 85750


PS. I'm sure you'll all be hearing a lot about Russia over the next few days, but I would just like to say that I'm very proud of the Senator for his cosponsorship of sanctions against Russia. Their efforts to interfere in our elections are deplorable and I applaud the Senator's legislation.


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