Advocacy starts here

Sometimes, it’s easy to feel powerless when you’re living with a chronic illness.

Maybe because of your disease you can’t stand or work or control the course of your condition.

We live with a lot of this everyday.

But in our determination we offset these “Can’ts” with activities that make us feel powerful.

Advocating for ourselves and more than 18,000 people in Michigan and 400,000 nationwide living with MS always empowers us.

And we’re feeling pretty proud of our efforts today to make our voices heard with this Letter to the Editor we sent to the local newspaper – The Morning Sun.

Medicaid expansion

To the Editor:

As two people living with Multiple Sclerosis who co-lead an area MS support group, we urge the Michigan Senate to vote on HB 4714 to expand Medicaid.

Expanding Medicaid to individuals with income up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level will give uninsured people living with chronic illnesses, such as MS, access to the health care that they need. In addition, medical treatment often helps to keep these people out of costly nursing homes.

As Governor Snyder has indicated, Medicaid expansion is a smart investment for Michigan. It will grow our state’s economy and save the state treasury over $1 billion in the first decade alone. 

It is important that the vote be done so preparation can be made for Medicaid enrollment to begin this fall. Therefore, the Michigan Senate should vote on and approve Medicaid expansion this summer.

Sincerely,

Dan and Jennifer Digmann

Mt. Pleasant

Advocacy starts at home, and it is empowering to put your voice out there through a Letter to the Editor. The beauty of email is you also can copy your local, state and national lawmakers on your letter so they know their constituents are paying attention.

Even if they don’t respond the way you are hoping, you can move forward knowing you didn’t sit silent on the situation that impact you and others who share your view.

How do you make your voice heard?