Without the Affordable Care Act (ACA), cancer would have bankrupted me or, worse, taken my life. Luckily, the ACA and its protections for people with pre-existing conditions was available when I was diagnosed with stage three endometrial cancer.
Prior to the ACA, people who most needed insurance could have been denied coverage based on their medical history, leaving the most vulnerable to fend for themselves.
That’s why I was filled with disgust when I heard that Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley is pursuing a lawsuit that would remove what’s left of the ACA, including protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
Millions of working Americans across the country are insured because of the ACA. Yet, Hawley is trying to strip us of our health insurance and the GOP now wants to raise the hours to qualify as a full-time employee from 30 to 40, which would remove insurance from even more families.
The GOP and Josh Hawley need to stop their war on health care. My life depends of the protections of the ACA. Stop misleading us about health care. Drop your lawsuit.
Elinor Simmons is a healthcare worker at SEIU Healthcare Missouri.
