Thread by @VABVOX

Hours of my work day and my very limited energy have been spent fighting with my health insurance company about my coverage.

As of January, my freaking premium now costs $1,978.10 PER MONTH.

This is what Trump did to sick people & everyone applauded last night at the #SOTU
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I have no idea who has this kind of money but it's more than I make.

The sicker you are, the more expensive your plan.And there's no option because the #GOP allowed health insurance companies (who just got a huge tax cut) to charge whatever they want for coverage.
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So The Wife, who is the same age as I am and who has the exact same plan, pays $239.00 a month for hers.

This is America right now for sick people. I would qualify for #Medicaid expansion if I lived in a different state, but I do not.

This is madness. Just madness.

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The piece de resistance on this is that my plan--my extraordinarily expensive plan--now will not pay for one of my medications. A heart medication I've been taking since my 20s and which has been around since before I was born.

So now 60 pills will cost $1k instead of $120.

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My cardiologist will have to file an appeal to try and make the insurance company pay for this old, reliable, non-experimental drug he's had me on for decades because it works. (BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT CARDIOLOGISTS HAVE TIME FOR.)

The stress of this is monumental & unnecessary.

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I also cannot change my plan to a less expensive one because THAT
part of the #ACA is still intact. So there's no recourse for me except hope to win the lottery.

The Wife has to take out a loan to pay for my health insurance.

How absolutely insane is that?
#ThanksTrump
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And of course I am not the only poor sick person in America dealing with this. I just happen to be a vocal reporter who is talking about this out loud instead of just suffering in silence like millions of other Americans.

Platitudes right, left or center won't fix this.

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There are tens of millions of Americans dealing with acute and/or chronic illnesses in America: 1 in 9 has #diabetes.16M of us have #cancer. Millions more have #asthma. There are so many other illnesses: MS, lupus, EDS, #sicklecell. Not to mention #autism, depression & BPD.
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Why must we all fight for care every single day in the richest country on earth?

How dare this admin force people into these untenable circumstances?

At the #SOTU Trump lauded the Hotel family for adopting the baby of heroin addicts. But his policies cut addiction care.
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Platitudes were thick last night on both sides of the aisle. But only one side is actually fighting FOR Americans instead of AGAINST us and that's the Democrats.

If I--with advanced degrees & decades as a journalist--have no recourse, think how many others feel abandoned.

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Pick a side: FOR your fellow Americans or AGAINST them. FOR a future for your families or AGAINST a future for your families.

You have two months to get registered to vote in 2018 primaries and to get at least ten more people registered.

Lives are at stake.
Not hyperbole.

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I'm not asking you to fight for me. I'm asking you to fight for the people who don't believe anyone will ever fight for them.

There are MILLIONS of Americans, half of them kids, who need your help. The only way that happens is if we #FlipTheHouse & #FlipItBlue.

Thanks.🌿

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