In 2011, after I was 25 – and simply three weeks away from faculty commencement – I felt ache in my proper knee that wouldn’t go away. I used to be an avid runner and was main a wholesome way of life, and that’s why I believed I had simply twisted my knee.
However a go to to my physician didn’t reveal a torn ligament, a sprain or a fractured kneecap. At age 25, an MRI of my knee revealed a tumor. I used to be recognized with osteosarcoma, an aggressive bone most cancers normally present in youngsters and adolescents.
I used to be in shock. Nobody expects to be recognized with most cancers, not to mention at 25. “Twenty-five-year-olds don’t get most cancers,” I believed.
That information was devastating. As an alternative of touring abroad to affix the Peace Corp after commencement, I started a yr of therapy that included 9 rounds of chemotherapy and 5 surgical procedures.
Obamacare saved my life
However there was some excellent news: First, we had discovered the most cancers early and it was treatable. And simply as essential, I used to be lucky to have been recognized within the age of Obamacare. Due to one of many Inexpensive Care Act’s provisions, I used to be nonetheless capable of get protection via my mother and father’ insurance coverage at age 25.
I strive not to consider what would have occurred to me with out that provision. My household wouldn’t have certified for charity insurance coverage – and they might have struggled to pay for my medical payments. (The knee surgical procedures alone value about as a lot as my mother’s home.)
In 2014, I purchased medical health insurance via the ACA’s federal insurance coverage change, and that protection meant that I’ve had common checkups to make sure the most cancers hasn’t returned – and I’m nonetheless in remission. The coverage additionally offered protection for the follow-up exams and the medicines I take for the continual kidney illness that resulted from my most cancers therapy.
If the worst occurs, my insurance coverage ensures that I’ll get the therapy I have to battle the illness once more. However I don’t know what I’d do if I misplaced my medical health insurance.
The legislation impressed me
Since my therapy, I’ve contemplated that query every day. It fueled my curiosity within the healthcare system and a ardour for well being reform advocacy that led me to Grasp of Public Well being and a brand new profession as a public well being educator.
In my “day job” at GetCoveredNYC, I assist customers navigate the change enrollment course of and educate them about their medical health insurance choices. In my free time, I advocate for well being reform by reaching out to our lawmakers and dealing with advocacy teams. (I’ve met with staffers of 30 U.S. Senators to debate affected person entry to care.)
The voters have spoken
The 2021 midterm elections highlighted the truth that tens of millions of People like me have pre-existing situations: well being points like diabetes, bronchial asthma, and most cancers. The actual fact that I confronted most cancers and survived is purpose sufficient for insurance coverage firms to disclaim me protection for the remainder of my life – if we lose ACA’s protections for individuals with pre-existing situations.
As an enrollment counselor and well being reform advocate, I meet these individuals day by day. I hear their success tales – of lastly with the ability to afford protection with the assistance of premium subsidies. However I additionally hear their issues about dropping protection if ACA’s protections are stripped away by our lawmakers.
Within the elections, voters despatched a transparent message, and it’s a message that all of us should proceed to share: that in relation to the well being and well-being of most cancers survivors, youngsters with disabilities, moms with being pregnant problems and each different doable well being challenge on the market, defending our protection is actually a matter of life and demise.
