I Support Marie Newman Because Healthcare is a Human Right

On October 3, 1994, I was taken from my mother’s arms and rushed into emergency surgery. A doctor noticed an irregularity while listening to my heartbeat and a surgeon saved my life that day on an operating table. I was 5 days old and hadn’t yet left the hospital after birth. Since then, I’ve had two more open heart surgeries, countless appointments and trips to the hospital.

I always knew growing up that something was different with my body. I couldn’t play hard-contact sports like hockey or football. I got winded more easily than the other kids. I didn’t grow as quickly. I visited my cardiologist (a word my friends usually had never heard) on a monthly basis. I became accustomed to checking my own blood pressure, taking pills every day, and telling my teachers on the first day of school about Aortic Stenosis and why that made me different than the other kids.

I was and still am blessed to grow up and live just a few blocks away from one of the best pediatric cardiology units in the country at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn. There aren’t enough words to thank Dr. Michel Ilbawi and his dedicated team of doctors, nurses and technicians who saved my life multiple times and cared for me day and night at my weakest moments.

The thankfulness I have in my heart for my caregivers is only matched by the disdain I have in my bones for the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. These companies force my family to fight tooth and nail on a regular basis to get my life-saving medication covered. They tried billing us hundreds of thousands of dollars for open heart surgeries and long hospital stays even though they should have been covered. So much time and energy is wasted proving these things are both necessary and already covered under our insurance plan. These companies take every chance to sneak in a surprise bill Profit is their only motive — not my health. My doctors often remind me that I need not one but two separate health insurance plans to meet the coverage needs of my heart condition.

All of this brings me to my conclusion: it is a moral imperative that we pass Medicare for All so every person in this country has the same access to great healthcare I did without going bankrupt or dying.

Dan Lipinski is my congressman. He voted against the Affordable Care Act, which means he voted for the health insurance industry’s ability to deny me insurance because of my pre-existing condition. He does not support Medicare for All, which guarantees everyone equal rights to health care and severely limits the for-profit sectors of the American health care industry. Why should these companies be making billions of dollars off of the working class getting sick, having surgery or dying?

Marie Newman is challenging Dan Lipinski for the Democratic nomination in the Third District again in 2020 after coming up short by less than 2% in 2018. She believes healthcare is a human right and will work to implement Medicare for All. She will stand up to the insurance lobby and fight the pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices. She will not cower behind bipartisanship to take these human rights from us.

I look forward to voting for Marie Newman on March 17, 2020, and working to create a more equitable healthcare system that treats everyone with the respect they deserve, regardless of income level or employment status