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Michelle's Law: A Mother's Journey for Reform
October 9, 2009
The following entry was submitted by AnnMarie Morse, Michelle's mother.
Life is getting back to normal after an awesome time in Washington, DC, for ACS CAN Lobby Day. It was something else to see the massive sea of ASC CAN blue shirts all around Capitol Hill. My meetings with health care staffers were positive and relayed the message that we need health care reform now not later. I was proud to be one of the NH representatives as a voice on behalf of cancer survivors, caregivers and those who have succumbed to cancer. I also had the honor of sharing my story about my daughter, Michelle, and our successful efforts to change a state and federal law, MichelleÈs Law in four years.
I am a parent who was a caregiver and lost a loved one to cancer. Michelle was unexpectedly diagnosed with advanced colon cancer in December 2003 and was one-week shy of her 21st birthday. Once we learned the treatment Michelle would endure, her doctors recommended she take a leave of absence from her full-time studies at Plymouth State University. That is when we found ourselves in a catch 22. When Michelle was diagnosed, dependents over the age of 19 had to be enrolled as a full-time student in college in order to remain on their parentÈs health insurance policy. When a dependent was no longer a full-time student they were dropped. It didnÈt matter if the student was seriously ill or injured. No full-time status equals no coverage under a parentÈs plan. I thought this was not fair and was told If I didnÈt like it, to change the law. So my journey began with a letter writing campaign on December 28, 2003.
On June 22, 2006, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch, signed MichelleÈs Law into state law. MichelleÈs Law allows seriously ill or injured college students to take up to 12 months leave of absence and not lose coverage under their parentÈs policy. However, many health insurance policies fall under E.R.I.S.A. (federal law) and state law did not apply. Therefore, we combined efforts with ACS CAN and continued forward to Washington, D.C. Thanks to our efforts, on Oct. 9, 2008, President George Bush signed MichelleÈs Law into Federal Lawwhich takes effect as policies renew on or after Oct. 9, 2009.
It seems like yesterday the law was signed and I was looking forward to Oct. 9, 2009. Now Oct. 9, 2009 is here and it is a bitter sweet day. On the bitter side Michelle is not with us, she is in heaven. My husband said that God needed a good teacher to teach the kids in Heaven. We do have treasured memories of Michelle that we hold close to our hearts but they still donÈt fill the void. A bright light no longer shines. MichelleÈs absence has an impact on so many her future students, her friends, and her family. I wish I could turn back time and have the family that my husband and I were blessed with, a daughter and son. Since it is not possible I live for today and hope I make a difference in the lives of others like Michelle did. On the sweet side no other family will have to walk in our shoes and fight to keep the coverage they pay to keep their seriously ill or injured college student on their policy. Also the law is preemptive, which means it must be adopted by every state as minimum coverage for full-time college students who need to take a leave of absence due to a serious illness or injury.
Now that MichelleÈs Law has been signed into law and is effective, I will continue to fight for health care reform. As a caregiver, I experienced the hoops a cancer patient has to jump through to get the coverage they paid for. Health Insurance is a promise, a promise to pay claims. Why do we have to fight so hard to have the insurance company keep their promise? On the other hand, we were fortunate, we had insurance, what about the 46 million who do not? What happens to them? It will require both sides of the aisle to compromise and make real change. The status quo no longer works. We need health care reform NOW, not later.
AnnMarie Morse
Candia, NH
MichelleÈs Mom
Michelle Morse, with her parents AnnMarie and Glen Morse, at MichelleÈs gradation from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire on May 21, 2005. Michelle made the tough decision to continue a full course load at school to stay on her parentsÈ health insurance plan while undergoing cancer treatments.
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