Dear President Trump:

I am a 60-year-old woman who has worked most of her life.  My husband, as well, has worked most of his life.  My parents were members of the working class as well as their parents.  My children also are a member of the working class.  It is the working class that gives the privileged  their wants and desires.  Without them, the privileged would not be able to get quality merchandise despite having the money to pay for them.

This letter is not about being wealthy or not wealthy; it is about dignity.  I have several “pre-existing” conditions.  In fact, I know more people who have “pre-existing” conditions than who don’t have them.  I have health care insurance currently which I pay high premiums for and I still pay high out-of-pocket expenses.  I can only imagine in some small way the astronomical cost of my health care will be under your new plan.  While the Affordable Care Act may have not been perfect, it helped the majority of people.  Yes, there were flaws, but it was new and, in my opinion, could have been improved upon instead of discarded.

I watched your news report on May 4, 2017 and was spell-bound by the smiles on the faces of your staff  as they took away health care to the infirmed and elderly with just a few words.  As I scanned the crowd surrounding you, I wondered how many of them could not afford to pay for their health care if they needed it for a “pre-existing” disease.  I wondered how many of them would change their thoughts if they had a child born with a “pre-existing” disease.  I think of Jimmy Kimmel’s son who was born with Tetralogy of Fallot who will live a lifetime with a “pre-existing” condition.  I can only assume that Mr. Kimmel is a person of wealth, but without insurance, his struggle of keeping his son alive will cost millions making him conscious of every dime he spends; and who wouldn’t spend every dime they have to keep their child alive if they knew they had a chance of living a productive life?

I’ve been talking a lot about the working class, but that is my reality; as it is the reality of most the people in America.  We have “worked the land” in an attempt to make our children and grandchildren’s lives better.  This health care act that you propose will set America back generations.  Those who work with a shirt and tie on will come home and change into jeans and T-shirts, out of necessity,  to head out to their second job to make ends meet.

I have talked to quite a few people concerning the health care we have now as it measures up to a National Health Care System and the people are generally opposed siting “I’d have to wait forever to get anything done.”  Don’t we wait forever now?  Don’t we  have to wait for our insurance company to approve every thing our medical doctor tells us we need?  Don’t we have to wait for a person who has never seen us read down an algorithm to its final destination and then you may or many not get the Cardiac Catheterization you may need to see if your heart is functioning normally?  Currently, I have waited 3 months to see a specialist I need.  I don’t know about you, but I think that is a long time.  I’m not saying that National Health Care System is the answer, but we  have to take a good look as to why it is working in other countries; good countries.

Most of Americans have worked all their lives. Their jobs, in many cases, have contributed to their “pre-existing” conditions.  Shouldn’t those who have worked most of their lives be given the dignity to live their aging years with the knowledge that they have health care coverage of diseases that started sometimes decades ago?  Shouldn’t we, as compassionate human beings, cry out that all people have health care insurance?

Imagine for one minute, President Trump, that you, as a young man worked in a steel mill for the majority of your life and earned a good living as long as you weren’t on strike or laid off.  Imagine further that you and your wife were soon to expect a child…a beautiful daughter named….Ivanka.  Imagine more that your beautiful child is born with a condition that will last a lifetime.  Imagine President Trump, what would you do under your health care plan?  Would your child live….or die?

President Trump, I pray for you every night.  I pray that you do what is right by an entire country, not what is beneficial for a few.