Dear Editor,
My name is Jessica Moore. I live in Burlington and have lived in Vermont all my life. I became a nurse because I wanted to help people, but the real world of health care is far from what I thought it was.
I see patients every day who are diagnosed with debilitating and potentially life threatening diseases. Fortunately, there are excellent curative treatments for many of these medical conditions. However, the insurance companies frequently refuse to pay for the treatment. If they do provide health care coverage, often there are very high deductibles or copays that the patient has to pay before he or she can get care. These treatments are too expensive for patients to pay on their own, so they are forced to seek other treatment, or go without. This leads to further medical complications and unnecessary suffering. I am fed up with seeing this happen every day as this is not how it should be. If there is treatment available there should be no reason why a person should not receive that treatment.
This is why I am a part of the Health Care is a Human Right Campaign. Health care is a right for all human beings, not just those who can afford it. I ask everyone who agrees that all people should get the care they need to join us for a rally on January 8 at the State House in Montpelier so we can express the need for a change in the health care system together.
Sincerely,
Jessica Moore, Burlington
