Senator Rubio,
I am writing to you to express my complete opposition to any changes to our existing health care laws that could result in the weakening of community rating requirements for health care plans sold in the state of Florida.
As a life long Florida resident who was born with multiple birth defects, I have experienced every aspect of attempting to get health care in the state of Florida over the past 30 years. As a child I relied on Medicaid to help my parents pay for the hundreds of thousands of dollars of health care bills I generated. Eventually my parents got health insurance through their work and I had full coverage through a private insurer. Once I became an adult and began attending UCF, I was forced off my parent’s insurance and back onto Medicaid.
I began my career as an engineer, but despite making an above average salary, I was never allowed to spend my own money to purchase my own insurance until the Affordable Care Act passed. Since the ACA, I have happily spent thousands of dollars of my own money to purchase my own insurance to responsibly keep the coverage I need.
There is nothing more important to keeping people like me off Medicaid, off the government’s dollar, than allowing us to continue to purchase our own insurance coverage without facing discrimination for pre-existing conditions we were born with.
I cannot comment on any other aspects of the efforts to repeal the ACA, but I absolutely implore you to not support any future health care legislation that would drive people like myself back onto the government’s care by allowing any changes to the community rating of health care plans. Or worse, drive us out of the state of Florida entirely, and into a state that will allow us to take care of ourselves like responsible adults.
Sincerely,
Adam
