I like to think I’m an American success story. I was born into homelessness, grew up in the foster care system, and suffered unthinkable domestic abuse as an adult. Now I’m on track to graduate with a Master’s degree in social work next spring. But don’t mistake my story for the “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” trope that conservative lawmakers like to call the American Dream. That idea is mythical, and my own success story proves it.

The pandemic is not over edition.  Many Americans are acting as if the pandemic is over, and President Biden even said as much in a recent interview with 60 Minutes (although he later walked back his comments). And it is true that as of this moment, we are trending in the right direction – daily infection rates, hospitalizations, and deaths are all significantly down; in some cases, the metrics reflect the pre-Delta days of late spring and early summer 2021 (another time when some thought the pandemic was winding down).

The Coalition on Human Needs on Tuesday, September 27, 2022 delivered a letter to all House members and Senators urging passage of a concurrent resolution to keep government funded through mid-December and to return to work on appropriations.

I have terrible chronic pain that’s left me unable to work for the last few years. I can’t sleep well, and every day is a battle just to take care of myself. It would be life-changing if I could be seen by a doctor. But I’m one of the 2 million Americans caught in what’s called the Medicaid coverage gap: we’re people in a no man’s land who can’t afford health insurance on their own, but aren’t eligible for their state or federal health insurance programs.