[Name of Editorial’s editor, if you can find it]
[Name of newspaper/publication]
[Date]
Dear Editor,
[Name]’s article published [date], “[title of article you’re responding to],” addressed barriers to receiving appropriate treatment for patients with COPD.
As someone who has lived with the rare lung disease pulmonary hypertension for seven years, I can personally attest that accessing appropriate treatment is a widespread problem. I struggle to breathe and require specialist treatment. One of the treatments my doctor has prescribed is supplemental oxygen. My disease makes my oxygen saturation levels plummet when I move, and I need four liters of oxygen per minute to safely walk around.
Something as fundamental as oxygen shouldn’t be a struggle to access, yet our health care system places many barriers in the way of this treatment. My insurance plan only covers 14 tanks of oxygen a week. At my rate of oxygen flow, one tank lasts about an hour. Imagine getting only two hours a day outside your home to complete daily errands and everything else you need to do – that’s my reality.
Congress must reform supplemental oxygen access. Other forms of supplemental oxygen, like liquid oxygen, are more effective at meeting high flow rate needs, and are the standard of care for pulmonary disease patients in European countries. However, liquid oxygen has become nearly impossible to obtain in the U.S. because suppliers won’t deliver liquid oxygen to residential homes, as it is not reimbursed adequately by insurers. Our country’s health care system can and must do better.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Volunteer with Pulmonary Hypertension Association]
[email address]
[phone number]
[address]
For years, doctors told me my shortness of breath was asthma. It wasn’t until I landed in the emergency room barely able to breathe that I learned I have pulmonary hypertension, a progressive, incurable, life-threatening disease characterized by high blood pressure of the lungs.
This pre-existing condition is a fact of life for me. It’s also a matter of life or death. I had no health insurance when I learned I have PH. Medicaid Expansion covers the costs of my care and medication.
That’s why I’m making my voice heard. I’ve written to my senator, and I’m asking everyone to share my story.
I understand that at least the first proposed Senate health insurance bill included protections for people with pre-existing conditions. That’s great news. But for people like me who live with life-threatening diseases that often prevents us from working, any new law must include Medicaid coverage. It also must include essential health benefit requirements and can’t allow lifetime benefit caps.
Most important for me, any new bill can’t discontinue and/or phase out Medicaid expansion or permit states to waive the federal mandate on the essential health benefits insurance companies must offer. Finally, the bill can’t allow insurers to charge older people more for care.
I am part of a strong community of PH patients and caregivers who fight to raise awareness about the disease. Because the disease is progressive, the sooner patients are diagnosed, the better. PH affects people of all ages. There are over a dozen FDA-approved treatments that are helping patients live longer, better lives. Right now, my care and treatment are covered, thanks to the Affordable Care Act.
I urge my senator and others to forget the politics and remember that whether in sickness or health, we are all Americans with a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, something that, for people like me, depends on accessible and affordable health care.
[Name]
[Volunteer with Pulmonary Hypertension Association]
[email address]
[phone number]
[address]
[Name of Editorial’s editor, if you can find it]
[Name of newspaper/publication]
[Date]
Dear Editor,
[Name]’s article published [date], “[title of article you’re responding to],” addressed barriers to receiving appropriate treatment for patients with COPD.
As someone who has lived with the rare lung disease pulmonary hypertension for seven years, I can personally attest that accessing appropriate treatment is a widespread problem. I struggle to breathe and require specialist treatment. One of the treatments my doctor has prescribed is supplemental oxygen. My disease makes my oxygen saturation levels plummet when I move, and I need four liters of oxygen per minute to safely walk around.
Something as fundamental as oxygen shouldn’t be a struggle to access, yet our health care system places many barriers in the way of this treatment. My insurance plan only covers 14 tanks of oxygen a week. At my rate of oxygen flow, one tank lasts about an hour. Imagine getting only two hours a day outside your home to complete daily errands and everything else you need to do – that’s my reality.
Congress must reform supplemental oxygen access. Other forms of supplemental oxygen, like liquid oxygen, are more effective at meeting high flow rate needs, and are the standard of care for pulmonary disease patients in European countries. However, liquid oxygen has become nearly impossible to obtain in the U.S. because suppliers won’t deliver liquid oxygen to residential homes, as it is not reimbursed adequately by insurers. Our country’s health care system can and must do better.
Sincerely,
[Name]
[Volunteer with Pulmonary Hypertension Association]
[email address]
[phone number]
[address]
For years, doctors told me my shortness of breath was asthma. It wasn’t until I landed in the emergency room barely able to breathe that I learned I have pulmonary hypertension, a progressive, incurable, life-threatening disease characterized by high blood pressure of the lungs.
This pre-existing condition is a fact of life for me. It’s also a matter of life or death. I had no health insurance when I learned I have PH. Medicaid Expansion covers the costs of my care and medication.
That’s why I’m making my voice heard. I’ve written to my senator, and I’m asking everyone to share my story.
I understand that at least the first proposed Senate health insurance bill included protections for people with pre-existing conditions. That’s great news. But for people like me who live with life-threatening diseases that often prevents us from working, any new law must include Medicaid coverage. It also must include essential health benefit requirements and can’t allow lifetime benefit caps.
Most important for me, any new bill can’t discontinue and/or phase out Medicaid expansion or permit states to waive the federal mandate on the essential health benefits insurance companies must offer. Finally, the bill can’t allow insurers to charge older people more for care.
I am part of a strong community of PH patients and caregivers who fight to raise awareness about the disease. Because the disease is progressive, the sooner patients are diagnosed, the better. PH affects people of all ages. There are over a dozen FDA-approved treatments that are helping patients live longer, better lives. Right now, my care and treatment are covered, thanks to the Affordable Care Act.
I urge my senator and others to forget the politics and remember that whether in sickness or health, we are all Americans with a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, something that, for people like me, depends on accessible and affordable health care.
[Name]
[Volunteer with Pulmonary Hypertension Association]
[email address]
[phone number]
[address]
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