News
KOMO News Interview: Protecting Access to Care
KOMO News interviewed ACS CAN volunteer Chris Griffiths following a press conference with Governor Inslee. (Click link to view video)
By: Lindsay Cohen
January 12, 2017
ISSAQUAH, Wash. - Christine Griffiths has been to hell and back -- and fears she could be on the verge of hell again.
Diagnosed with breast cancer at age 49, the Bothell resident went through chemotherapy, fought off kidney stones, and then had a stroke. On top of that, her husband was diagnosed with central lobe dementia, forcing him to retire and kicking them both off his company's insurance.
"I want people to know we all have a right to live," said the mother of two. "We are called the United States of America for a reason and we have to be united. Somehow that's gotten really messed up."
On Thursday, she joined Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, along with doctors, nurses, and patients in the lobby of Swedish Hospital Issaquah to plead their case to save the Affordable Care Act, often referred to as Obamacare.
About 750,000 people in the Evergreen State are currently covered under the ACA. The number of uninsured would more than double -- from 5.8 percent to 13.5 percent -- and more than 51,000 people could lose their jobs if the ACA is repealed, according to numbers released by the Office of Financial Management.
"Both Republicans and Democrats are covered by Obamacare. Both Republicans and Democrats can get cancer and need treatment," said Gov. Inslee. "And both Republicans and Democrats are deserving the basic human decency that you don't pull the rug out from anybody in the state of Washington without replacing it."
Inslee's statements came the same day the GOP-run Senate approved a budget to clear the way to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law. The vote came after a seven-hour marathon session, around 1:30 am EST.
"We must act quickly to bring relief to the American people," said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Democratic amendments aimed at supporting rural hospitals and covering patients with pre-existing medical condition were all shot down.
Griffiths, whose cancer is in remission, fears she would fall under the latter, and be unable to find a new insurance company willing to cover costly appointments and medication.
"I am afraid. I'm really afraid," she said. "I'm afraid because I will have no other option than to just not treat myself. And I will die."
"I know that I could be facing death. I don't want that, but I have to be a realist," she said. "If they make that decision, that's what I'll be doing."