Thread by @MatthewWolfff

A few years ago, I was hospitalized & diagnosed with a serious chronic ailment at 34 years old.

I was insured with a low cost, less comprehensive plan, the type the GOP champion as an ACA alternative.

I was billed $70,000, ruined financially. It can happen to you. (Thread) /1

At the time, the ACA had been passed, but was still months away from being implemented. I knew there was something wrong, but I feared being diagnosed and losing the ability to get the better, more comprehensive HC plan I feared I needed. So, I tried to hold off for the ACA. /2

This is a fear many Americans faced before the ACA, being diagnosed with a preexisting condition that would destroy their chances of getting affordable, comprehensive health insurance. /3

My sleep was very disturbed. I was tired all the time. My heart rate raced, even while at rest. I felt horrible. In the end, I feared I could wait no more, & went to the emergency room in Manhattan.

The nurses saw I was in distress, and moved me to the head of a long line.
/4

A check of my blood pressure and EKG showed there was something seriously wrong. I was admitted.

Over a week and a half stay in the hospital I endured many expensive tests. There was fear that I had had a heart attack at 34, a very bad sign, mercifully not the case. /5

A number of factors had combined to damage my heart. I had the worst case of sleep apnea the doctor had ever seen, I stopped breathing hundreds of times every night. My blood pressure was at stroke levels. This was bad, but didn’t account for my heart readings at 34 yrs old. /6

In the end, it was likely an unknown virus that broke the camels back. Combined with the rest of the factors, my heart was working too hard, for too long. Like any muscle, it grew to get stronger. The trouble is, your heart is a pump too, and that meant less blood to pump. /7

Congestive Heart failure sounds really bad. Let me make one thing clear: I’m not dying. I have a chronic ailment. There are a number of medications I will take for the rest of my life to keep the condition from worsening. The medications have improved my heart function. /8

I’ll never be cured. I’m not in pain, but there are real symptoms. I’m often tired, with low energy. I become breathless easily, with little exertion. There is some chest discomfort. I feel a bit like I’m always on the verge of getting the flu, not quite sick, but not well. /9

With the aid of a cpap device, my sleep is much improved. Still, I often suffer from insomnia. This is undiagnosed conjecture, but I believe years of terrible sleep apnea causes me anxiety about sleep. My body believes sleep is life threatening. 2 yrs of Trump hasn’t helped. /10

Millions of Americans suffer from the same ailments I do, and most of them go easily undiagnosed. You can’t tell your blood pressure without a test. You don’t know if you have sleep apnea, you just know your sleep sucks, you’re always tired, and your partners say you snoor. 🤣/11

This is why it is so important to have comprehensive insurance allowing regular medical check ups. I didn’t have a clue that I was in very poor health until it was too late. That’s a reality so many Americans faced before the ACA, putting off essential care because of cost. /12

I say that I was ruined financially, but it’s not completely true. The diagnosis ended a very promising career as an Opera singer. I lived well for a single 34 year old, but I didn’t have a house to sell. What I did have was privilege, and rich parents who bailed me out.
/13

I’ll admit, I’m ashamed to admit that. This is a story that should be told in a time when we are fighting for the right to affordable health care. I’ve alluded to it once or twice on tweets, but shied away from telling the full story. /14

I know that for many Americans, a $70,000 hospital bill means entering into crippling debt, a fate I was spared because of my privilege. It’s a fate that could happen to anyone, and will happen to many without the ACA. /15

Picture the world the GOP has planned for us. We will all incur crippling hospital bills in our lives. Cost balloon, and private insurance becomes less affordable for many Americans. Get rid of coverage for preexisting conditions, and poverty upon diagnosis becomes common. /16

Imagine having to choose between life saving medications and food. Imagine a world where children have to sell their houses, impoverish themselves to make their parent’s last years endurable. Where a cancer diagnosis means ruin for many Americans. That was life before the ACA./17

The GOP envisions a world where most Americans will end their lives in poverty without Medicare or SS. Where children will endure crippling debt to pay for their parent’s hospice care. Where children are left to die because their parents can’t afford a life saving surgery. /18

The GOP plan for you:
💥Kill Medicare and SS: End of life poverty, children enter debt to cover parent’s care.
💥Kill the ACA: Health insurance becomes a luxury.
💥Kill preexisting conditions

All for tax breaks to billionaires & corps hoarding profits while wages fall.
#BeAVoter

The GOP scam:
1)Massive tax cuts to billionaires and corporations raking in record profits while wages fall.
2)Blame huge deficits on Medicare, SS and Medicaid.
3)more tax cuts!

McConnell’s promise: if the GOP wins in Nov, they will repeal the ACA.

msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-…