Advocacy

I've shared with you my first New Years plan: spending more time with my fellow 'diabetes people.'  The second plan is much less fun, but in my opinion, unavoidable. I plan to spend more time advocating for people with diabetes. Phone calls, emails, tweets and more appear to be a necessary evil for the coming year.

I started today, thanking my representatives who support the parts of the Affordable Care Act which are important to me, and contacting some who do not. The ACA is not a perfect law, but eliminating it without a reasoned replacement would be a setback not just for people with diabetes but for those with all kinds of chronic and expensive diagnoses. Repeal of the ACA will not only impact people who've been able to buy insurance because of it, but also the greater majority of us with employer-sponsored insurance who've seen new benefits and protections through the law. This article explains those parts of the law in greater detail, including coverage regardless of preexisting conditions, coverage for preventative care and the elimination of annual and lifetime maximums.

My daughter is at the age where she's considering career choices. The existence of protections for her as someone with a pre-existing condition and who has high annual healthcare costs is important to us. We'd rather she not have to choose a career, and a job within that career, based primarily on whether she can obtain quality health insurance and be assured that her coverage will never lapse.

Are you concerned too? Here's an easy way to get in touch with your representatives:

http://diabetespac.org/

I'm certain this is only the beginning of my advocacy this year. At the rate insurance companies and prescription benefit managers are picking and choosing what's covered, it's likely I'll be in touch with them. We're fortunate to be in a great school district, but small conversations still need to be had from time to time.  Other political issues may arise locally or nationally which I feel require my voice- not just for my own child's benefit but for that of the whole diabetes community and beyond.