MY HEALTHCARE STORY

I have had experiences in health care and health insurance that have colored my already progressive political beliefs. I remember when Neil Rolde ran for the Senate here in Maine in 1990, he ran with the belief that universal health insurance was needed in this country. Many people believed, including myself, that it would be inevitable that some form of national health insurance would be adopted in this country in the decade following his unsuccessful run. Of course, we were wrong. The Clinton's gave it a good try, but the intransigent Republican Party made sure that we did not meet with success. Then Obama came, over fifteen years later, and tried again. He did run on a single payer type plan, which I feel is preferable, but only managed to put through the Affordable Care Act.  He did this only by the skin of his teeth. Far from Socialism, it preserves much of our private insurance system, but it is a start.

I personally have been covered for most of my life. Thank God for this, because due to problems with mental illness and the necessity of drug and therapeutic treatment, it would have been prohibitively expensive to pay out of pocket. Even with insurance, with rising co pays and premiums it has been expensive. When you make 20000 dollars a year, another 200.00 dollars a month in co-pays is pretty hard. It prevents you from saving therefore it can lead to a cascade effect that leads to debt.

A couple years ago, I unexpectedly lost my job, like many Americans. Of course this meant loss of health coverage too. Thankfully at this time, due to the Stimulus Package, a large portion of my COBRA coverage was paid while I was unemployed, allowing me to retain my insurance. Just one of the useless, waste of money things that the stimulus did for people. (Sarcasm intened for the Sheldon Coopers out there.) Later on, after working a new job for a awhile, my mental health made it necessary for me to leave the job and return home to live with my parents. I was lucky enough to get Mainecare because of  disability, just weeks before reductions in coverage would have made this impossible. If Gov. Lepage had his way,  people like me would be thrown off due to the fact that I  am single. He is trying to make sure this happens by refusing to expand Medicaid coverage next year as per the Affordable Care Act. Believe me, I am not a lazy person that wants to live off government support, I have permanent, serious illnesses that require expensive treatment. This is true of many Mainers and many Americans.

I never would have dreamed 30 years ago, that we would still be having this discussion on health care. I figured better minds would prevail and people would get needed coverage. If covering people to prevent them getting sick, and treating them when they do get sick,is socialism, then I guess I like that aspect of socialism! To a better tomorrow...
-Louwis