VOTE, Like Your Life Depends On It...

    ...because it does. 

Tuesday, November 6th is Election Day 

     

     For me, I'm voting for IL-6th District Congressional candidate, Sean Casten.  He's a new comer to politics - he's never held an elected position before.  He's a scientist and clean energy entrepreneur, which speaks to my passion to protect our environment for generations to come. But more urgently for me and for all cancer patients, Sean Casten supports protecting the pre-existing conditions clause in the Affordable Care Act, (ACA).  If insurance companies are allowed to drop members with pre-existing conditions, I will die.  No drama here, I mean it.  My medication costs $15,000/ month and if I lose my health insurance because I have cancer, I won't be able to afford my lifesaving oral chemotherapy on my own.

     Casten's opponent is our incumbent Congressman, Peter Roskam.  He's voted 60 times to allow insurance companies to drop members with pre-existing conditions.

     Take a quick glance at this list of pre-existing conditions under the GOP health plan proposed last year.  It was published by Business Insider in an article by Lydia Ramsey on May 5, 2017.  With the conditions listed here, the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that 27% of Americans under age 65 years could become ineligible to get health insurance.

AIDS/HIV

Lupus

Alcohol/drug abuse with recent treatment

Severe mental disorders such as bipolar disorder or an eating disorder

Alzheimer's/dementia

Multiple sclerosis

Rheumatoid arthritis

Fibromyalgia and other inflammatory joint disease

Muscular dystrophy

Cancer

Severe obesity

Cerebral palsy

Organ transplant

Congestive heart failure

Paraplegia

Coronary artery/heart disease

Bypass surgery

Paralysis

Crohn's disease/ulcerative colitis

Parkinson's disease

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease/emphysema

Pending surgery or hospitalization

Diabetes mellitus

Pneumocystis pneumonia

Epilepsy

Pregnancy or expectant parent

Hemophilia

Sleep apnea

Hepatitis C

Stroke

Kidney disease

Renal failure

Transsexualism

     Below is a list of other conditions that could make it harder, (more expensive), to purchase a health insurance plan, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Acne

Allergies

Anxiety

Asthma

Basal cell skin cancer 

(a type of skin cancer that doesn't tend to spread)

Depression

Ear infections

Fractures

High cholesterol

Hypertension

Incontinence

Joint injuries

Kidney stones

Menstrual irregularities

Migraine headaches

Being overweight

Restless leg syndrome

Tonsillitis

Urinary tract infections

Varicose veins

Vertigo.

     The above lists are exhaustive.  (They left off hangnails.) EVERYONE at some point in life will have at least one of the above conditions, and if not you, someone you love will.

     Please VOTE for Congressional and Senatorial candidates that will ensure health care for all Americans and protecting those of us with pre-existing conditions. 

Find out what District you're in and who your Congressman is:  https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

Find out who your Senator is:  https://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Do your homework to learn about the candidates and  

VOTE!

     Other Illinois Congressional Candidates in my area that support protecting the pre-existing conditions clause in the ACA:

RajaforCongress.com

Raja Krishnamoorthi is the incumbent for IL-8th District.  He has a consistent record for protecting Americans with pre-existing conditions.

UnderwoodforCongress.com

 Lauren Underwood is the candidate running against incumbent, Randy Hultgren, in the IL-14th District race.  Hultgren votes against pre-existing condition protections.  Underwood, a registered nurse with a pre-existing heart condition, shares my fears of losing health insurance.