CT Senator Shares Stories Of People, Families Who Will Be Hurt By Trumpcare On Twitter

HARTFORD, CT - Senator Chris Murphy has expressed his disapproval of the healthcare reform plan being proposed by President Donald Trump and his administration a number of times. Now he is letting residents share their stories online by tweeting them on his Twitter account.

Murphy expressed his outrage over the reform on Wednesday. He said in a tweet that 200,000 people in Connecticut could lose their insurance if "Trumpcare" passes. (To sign up for free, local breaking news alerts from more than 100 Connecticut communities click here.)

"How could you look people in the eye," Murphy said in a tweet, "[and] tell them you voted to take their care?"

That same day, the senator decided to reach out to Connecticut residents in order to share their side of the story. Murphy encouraged followers to tweet him their story of how Trumpcare would impact their family so he could share them online.

On Thursday, Murphy sent out a tweet explaining his plan for the day.

"It’s no secret that the numbers behind the Republican health care bill are bad. [Twenty-two] million will lose insurance [and] premiums will go up," Murphy said on Twitter. "But clearly, these numbers aren’t enough to move many of my Republican colleagues who are still supporting this dumpster fire of a bill. Senate Republicans need to hear the real life stories about what this bill would do to families."

Murphy said he will be tweeting stories all day from families across the state who shared what it means to have health care and what it would mean to lose it.

The first story Murphy shared was that of a woman named Betsy from Litchfield, who said she would not have health insurance at all without the Affordable Care Act due to her pre-existing condition. She was diagnosed with stage four cancer in December 2013 and was dropped by her insurance company when her doctor told her she needed surgery.

“Imagine having to choose between keeping your home or getting life-saving surgery," Betsy told Murphy on Twitter. "We do not want to return to those bad old days.”

Another compelling case came from Melissa of Hebron, whose daughter Riley just turned one-year old and was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Riley has already had two open heart surgeries, one of which when she was only five-days old.

She will need another surgery within the next few years to keep surviving, according to her mother.

“My daughter did nothing wrong, [and] I did nothing wrong while pregnant either. This type of birth defect does not discriminate," Melissa said. "Our family works very hard and we are blessed that our insurance has made the very long hospital stay and surgeries possible."

Melissa told Murphy that Riley's hospital bills have already reached $1 million for just the first year of her life, something her mother said is "worth every penny.”

“The ACA saved my life," Paul said. "It helped me get all the [scans] necessary to diagnose my illness as Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia."

Paul told Murphy he was on Medicaid during his hospital stay, physical therapy and home recovery, the costs for which were allegedly in the millions. Though Paul tries to live a normal life now, he could get sick again at any moment.

“I paid taxes my whole life [and] worked hard," Paul said. "It was my turn to get some relief and I got it. I deserved to live.”

Paul told Murphy he could die if Medicaid gets stripped, as it ensures his testing and medication. It also helps him monitor the disease.

Jumping off this story, Murphy retweeted a post from another local woman whose 92-year old mother is in a nursing home. Maureen Rao said in her tweet that Medicare does not cover long-term nursing home fees, however Medicaid does.

Rao hopes to continue to support her mother, who she says rarely even knows who Rao is.

Some of the stories shared by Murphy came from a very emotional place. Paula from Glastonbury wrote to Murphy about losing her husband, who had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and died eight weeks later.

Paula told Murphy she had insurance through her husband's company.

“I lost my husband, my insurance and my career in the span of two months," Paula said. "I had to sell our home.”

Despite these big losses, Paula said she was able to go back to college on her own to re-train and finally climbed back out of the hole. She told Murphy she wouldn’t have been able to do it without the Affordable Care Act.

“I’m 62 years old," Paula said, "and I know that I won’t be able to afford the 800 percent premium increase that would affect me under the new Republican plan.”

Read more of the stories Murphy has shared on his Twitter account.

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