Delivering his remarks with the aid of a computer because his diaphragm no longer allows him to speak, Barkan called the Democratic proposal “the only solution to what ails the American health care system.”
By Felicia Sonmez Felicia Sonmez National reporter on The Washington Post's breaking political news team Email Bio Follow April 30 at 4:31 PM Ady Barkan, an activist with ALS who rose to national attention two years ago when he confronted then-Sen. Jeff Flake on a plane, testified Tuesday in favor of Democrats’ Medicare-for-all bill, calling it “the only solution to what ails the American health-care system.
There is no known cure for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, a fast-moving neuromuscular disease that causes increasing paralysis and loss of vital functions. Each year, about 5,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with the disease, which has an average survival time of three years.
In his 2017 encounter with Flake, Barkan told the senator that the disease struck him suddenly and that he will “probably need to go on a ventilator to live.” “Like so many others, Rachael and I have had to fight with our insurer, which has issued outrageous denials instead of covering the benefits we’ve paid for,” he said. “We have so little time left together, and yet our system forces us to waste it dealing with bills and bureaucracy. That is why I am here today, urging you to build a more rational, fair, efficient and effective system.”
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