Open Letter to Congress: I Am Alive Because of the ACA (Guest Post)

By Rob DeLorenzo, Cancer Survivor

An Open Letter to Congress

I am alive because of The Affordable Care Act (ACA). Having affordable and decent medical insurance allowed me to receive treatment for cancer which saved my life.

But now you, our elected representatives in Congress, are voting to repeal the ACA and allow insurers to reinstate the pre-existing conditions exclusion, essentially voting for me and millions of others to lose their coverage and then to die. For those of us with a pre-existing condition, insurers will be basically allowed to deny us adequate policies by pricing them beyond what I and millions of other fellow citizens will be able to afford.

Has America become so callous and cruel that we no longer care about each other’s personal welfare?

Have we sunk to the point where the only thing that matters is the bottom line?

Are the people that will lose their insurance coverage just going to be thrown away like garbage?

It’s incomprehensible to me that you would consider voting to sentence millions of people to disease, illness, and death when we have a solution in place that works well for those that need it.

I appreciate you taking the time to consider this. I realize that I am but one lone voice typing into the ether for help.
Please consider that we are not just numbers on a spreadsheet that cost too much to keep alive. We are people with families, friends, jobs, and communities that often need help.

I urge you to not vote to repeal The Affordable Care Act. I like being alive. I like being an American. I would like to believe that my government cares about me and my welfare, but this cruel and callous action contradicts everything that America is supposed to represent. This is not what we are as a nation. We are better than this. This cannot be how we treat our own citizens!

Thank you for your time and I appreciate your consideration of one man’s story.

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