Helen Hanson, Home Care Worker
The PHI Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign has launched a weekly advocacy effort emphasizing why health reform is so critical for direct-care workers.
This six-week series — entitled “Direct-Care Workers Need Health Reform Now” — highlights the human side of health reform by allowing direct-care workers to share their personal stories of dealing with the many inadequacies of the private health insurance system.
The series will comprise five stories of direct-care workers and one story of a direct-care employer.
“These are only a few of the many stories of direct care workers who — ironically — care for others but lack decent, affordable care themselves,” said Carol Regan, PHI government affairs and Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign director. “There are solutions, and we urge Congress to act this year — these workers can’t wait.”
Helen and Cindy
In the first entry in the series, home care worker Helen Hanson explained the difficult circumstances under which she discovered her insurance plan’s sky-high deductible.
Unwieldy deductibles are just one of the reasons why health reform is so urgent. The Health Care for Health Care Workers campaign has called on Congress to put an end to high-deductible insurance plans, which fail to provide comprehensive, affordable coverage for low-income Americans, including direct-care workers.
The second entry in the series focuses on Cindy Ramer, an uninsured certified nursing assistant from Iowa whose husband’s overwhelming medical bills forced the couple to declare bankruptcy. Her story shows that health care is too expensive for many low-income workers.
Call to Action
Each story serves as a call to action. Readers are directed to call Congress and tell their legislator that quality, affordable health care coverage cannot wait any longer.
Future installments of the series will appear each week on the Health Care for Health Care Workers blog. Readers can also subscribe to the Health Care for Health Care Workers newsletter to receive emails announcing each new story.
Click here to sign up for the Health Care for Health Care Workers newsletter, and to view past issues.
