“He almost died in my arms several times . . . Given that this was a congenital heart defect, diagnosed when he was five years old, this would be a pre-existing condition for the rest of his life.”
– Gayle Beamer, Charlottesville, VA
“I just thought it was gonna be another letter increasing my premium, and I get inside the house, and it’s a check! For me! In my name! A check from my health care insurance company!”
– Michelle Green, Charlottesville, VA
“I was put on a cancer prevention medication . . . It cost me approximately $400 a month for all my medications . . . When I got in the doughnut hole, they provided 50%. That’s a huge help!”
– Dell Erwin, Charlottesville, VA
“Severe hemophilia is a bleeding disorder, so he needed medication to control the bleeding . . . Then I realized ‘Oh, now they’re using lifetime caps to get rid of us’ . . . It costs maybe 30 or 40 thousand dollars a month to keep him alive.”
– Nathan Wilkes, Englewood, CO
“I’m studying to become a physician . . . Without the Affordable Care Act, I may not be able to be here . . . It allows me the peace of mind of being in school knowing that I can stay on my parents’ health insurance.”
– Amanda Kary, Philadelphia, PA
“An oncologist came in the room . . . and she said, ‘Oh, well it’s everywhere’ . . . He had stage IV kidney cancer . . . And on June 17th, he died.”
– Regina Holliday, Washington, DC
“[My husband’s] job started downsizing . . . We lost our health care . . . If Medicaid hadn’t been there for me, I don’t know what would have happened.”
– Melanie Townsend Diggs, Baltimore, MD
“Because I have a pre-existing condition of hepatitis C, there was just no way for me to obtain health care . . . By making pre-existing conditions not an issue . . . That will increase my options.”
