If the ACA Is Repealed, My Parents Will Run Out of Savings

During the recession my dad worked at a photo development lab, but people were no longer printing physical photos so he got laid off and decided to retire early. Seeing that my dad, sister, and I have genetic condition called Marfan Syndrome that affects eyes and the heart, we have more than our share of medical bills, so we were lucky when we found out we were eligible for our state's healthcare program.

Their are a few different ways Marfans affects the eyes: my dad has glaucoma, I wear glasses because I'm nearsighted, and my sister had lazy eye surgery when she was little. If you have Marfans, your aorta (main part of the heart) is weaker than it should be. If your blood pressure is too high, this can cause a dissection (rip or tear). To prevent this my dad, sister, and I have to take blood pressure medicine. My sister and I also have our yearly echo cardiogram to check on how much dilation is happening.

Two years ago my dad had an aortic dissection, which resulted in him becoming wheelchair bound. He spent two weeks in the hospital, had two heart surgeries, and had several CAT scans, MRIs, and other tests. Because we were on the state's health care program, we only had to pay $5-$8 for each doctor and tests my dad had during that time. But in the fall when I started attending the community college my parents had to take money out of their savings; that, combined with my mom getting a $.09 raise at her work resulted in me getting kicked out of the state's healthcare program, so I enrolled in health insurance through the marketplace.

My parents just got lost their insurance from the state and they're on the Affordable Care Act too. If the Affordable Care Act gets repealed, my parents will run out of savings in a few years, and in order for me to qualify for financial aid for school and the Afforadable Care Act, I can't work while attending college. My mom's job doesn't pay enough for us to live on her income alone (not to mention pay for college tuition). That's why it's so important that they either don't repeal the ACA or improve the ACA so that it's less expensive. The reason my family is able to pay for our heart and eye appointments, eye drops, medications and my dad's surgery is because of the state insurance and the ACA.