Today we are taking time to feature stories of every day Iowans who have struggled because of a lack of quality, affordable health care. Every hour, on the hour, we will feature a new story in the hope that these faces and their struggles persuade Senator Charles Grassley that true reform cannot happen without a public health care plan option, and that quality, affordable health care needs to be available to every Iowan.
Sharon Hyke
Cedar Falls, IA
Sharon has MS, and as a full-time student she enjoys quality disability insurance. Though if she uses her education to find a higher paying job she will lose her disability insurance and pay tens of thousands out of pocket for care and medications.
Sharon has had MS, an immunity disease, since she was 17. In the years before the plant she worked at in her teens and early 20's closed, she was frequently dropped and picked back up from her employer's insurance plan. To add to her MS, Sharon has severe asthma. Her chronic diseases and medical procedures kept her from college for nearly 20 years. From 1980 to 1990 alone she received 15 surgeries. In more recent years Sharon has been doing much better. Due to more recent status as a full-time student she's been eligible for subsidized insurance. This coverage has given her access to a new drug called Sol-Medrol that treats her MS and allows her to live a semi-normal life.
Sharon is now scared about the idea of finishing graduate school and entering the working world. If she makes over $27,800 a year she will lose her disability insurance. If she gets a good paying job, she'll never find a private insurance company that would cover her.
Without an affordable public option available to her, she's afraid she'll be forced to take a low paying job, wasting her education, so she won't exceed her disability earning cap. "My whole life revolves around healthcare." And "I'm being co-paid to death," Sharon said of her situation.
Respond to Senator Grassley on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ChuckGrassley
Write Senator Grassley and tell him that you want health care reform today:
http://action.seiu.org/page/speakout/24hrs
