Dear Family: Explain to My Son Why You Want Him to Die
I have a son who is 16 and on the autism spectrum. He's pretty high functioning, which puts him on a cusp of possibly being able to secure employment in his life and not completely disabled.
He also has Crohn's Disease.
Why are these two things important? He receives infusions of the drug Remicaide every 8 weeks to keep his Crohn's in remission. He lost 41 pounds before it went into remission after it was discovered he had it. I saw a bill recently for those infusions. Each one is around $13,000.
Right now, he's covered by his father's health insurance, which is quite good. So good, in fact, that we pay taxes on it now as a benefit. I don't object. I know how valuable it is to have health insurance and if it helps other people have it as well, that's a good thing. Under the ACA, I have another 10 years before I have to worry about him going off the health insurance. I wasn't even worried about that, because our Governor had expanded Medicaid under the ACA and he would qualify for that.
All that changed. Republicans have wanted to repeal the ACA for quite some time. They keep saying they'll improve it, but vote to repeal it without having anything else planned. Donald Trump has said he'll repeal it, but also has shown no plan for what will replace it.
Without the ACA, the law that keeps my son on health insurance until he's 26 is gone. Prior to that, it was 19, and 21 if he was in college. That means I have a little over 2 years instead of 10. The state expansion will also be gone, and because it's questionable if he would be considered disabled, there's no certainty he would be qualified.
So please tell me, family who voted for Trump, how do you look my son in the eyes and tell him you voted for him to die?Tell me what amount of inconvenience or political correctness that you didn't like was more important than your relative's life?
I hear the platitudes that "it won't be that bad" or "it'll never happen" and think how naive you are. This is what you voted for. This is what you gave a mandate to the so-called leaders of this country for. You voted for the ACA to be repealed with nothing else in place to protect people like my son; people who have pre-existing conditions; people who need life-saving medications and treatment. You voted to LET THEM DIE.
This is why this election was about so much more than just different ideology. It wasn't about liking one candidate more than another. It came down to basic tenets of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." It's about life-saving health care. It's about the persecution of LGBT people, people of different religions, and people of different shades of skin. It's about our basic humanity.
Please, I really would like to hear how you explain to a 16 year old boy with autism what was so important that you voted for him to die.
He also has Crohn's Disease.
Why are these two things important? He receives infusions of the drug Remicaide every 8 weeks to keep his Crohn's in remission. He lost 41 pounds before it went into remission after it was discovered he had it. I saw a bill recently for those infusions. Each one is around $13,000.
Right now, he's covered by his father's health insurance, which is quite good. So good, in fact, that we pay taxes on it now as a benefit. I don't object. I know how valuable it is to have health insurance and if it helps other people have it as well, that's a good thing. Under the ACA, I have another 10 years before I have to worry about him going off the health insurance. I wasn't even worried about that, because our Governor had expanded Medicaid under the ACA and he would qualify for that.
All that changed. Republicans have wanted to repeal the ACA for quite some time. They keep saying they'll improve it, but vote to repeal it without having anything else planned. Donald Trump has said he'll repeal it, but also has shown no plan for what will replace it.
Without the ACA, the law that keeps my son on health insurance until he's 26 is gone. Prior to that, it was 19, and 21 if he was in college. That means I have a little over 2 years instead of 10. The state expansion will also be gone, and because it's questionable if he would be considered disabled, there's no certainty he would be qualified.
So please tell me, family who voted for Trump, how do you look my son in the eyes and tell him you voted for him to die?Tell me what amount of inconvenience or political correctness that you didn't like was more important than your relative's life?
I hear the platitudes that "it won't be that bad" or "it'll never happen" and think how naive you are. This is what you voted for. This is what you gave a mandate to the so-called leaders of this country for. You voted for the ACA to be repealed with nothing else in place to protect people like my son; people who have pre-existing conditions; people who need life-saving medications and treatment. You voted to LET THEM DIE.
This is why this election was about so much more than just different ideology. It wasn't about liking one candidate more than another. It came down to basic tenets of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." It's about life-saving health care. It's about the persecution of LGBT people, people of different religions, and people of different shades of skin. It's about our basic humanity.
Please, I really would like to hear how you explain to a 16 year old boy with autism what was so important that you voted for him to die.
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