Reform needed urgently

Editor:

Being part of the chronic illness community as both patient and support person for almost a quarter century, I can attest to the devastation afforded individuals and families as they seek help from health insurers.

Many have started out with what they thought were excellent plans, only to find out that the plan is only excellent as long as one remains healthy or is easily diagnosed and cured.

The sicker you become the more likely you will lose the coverage that was supposed to see you through rough times.

As a support person for AZ Lyme Association, I have daily contact with folks who are seriously ill.

Many have lost health-care benefits because they could no longer work in their chosen professions.

Without a source of income, health-care benefits disappear, and treatment options grind to a halt. People become sicker.

Too often, long-term disability, which is considerably more expensive to the taxpayers than sound early intervention in the disease process would ever have been, comes into play.

The ill who are uninsured live invisibly among us even as their numbers are growing daily. Their stories are not anecdotal.

Instead their stories are sadly documented day after day under our present health-care system.

Most citizens of the United States are but one tick bite, one cancer diagnosis, one disabling accident, or one undiagnosable syndrome away from joining their ranks.

Comprehensive health-care reform is critical to the well being of this nation and its people.

This is our moment. Let’s seize it!

Donna Hoch, Green Valley