+
upworthy
More

Rage-inducing stories from people with pre-existing conditions Congress needs to hear.

These are the stories we all need to hear.

Of the many no good, very bad things in the American Health Care Act (aka Trumpcare) that have a lot of people feeling uneasy, the way pre-existing conditions will be treated takes the cake.

If the AHCA bill that the House passed does become law, it would change how pre-existing conditions are covered, replacing a system where insurance companies need to charge every one the same amount to one where costs can vary based on medical history.

People are not happy about that.


If you're young, wealthy, super healthy, and don't plan on ever getting sick or dying, the new bill might be cause for celebration. But the rest of us mere mortals aren't so lucky.

The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that more than a quarter of all adults 18-65 have a pre-existing condition that would have left them uninsurable on the private market before the Affordable Care Act. Trumpcare is a functional return to that sort of Wild West landscape.

People on Twitter are using the hashtag #IAmAPreExistingCondition to show just how wide-ranging the damaging effects of AHCA will be.

Before the vote, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) seemed to suggest that people with pre-existing conditions were essentially bringing this on themselves, saying that it's only fair to charge them more than people who "lead good lives" and do things "the right way." As though getting pregnant, or surviving rape, or being born with a hole in your heart means you're leading a bad life and doing things the wrong way.

Another lawmaker, Rep. Robert Pittenger (R-North Carolina), said that people should simply move to a different state if theirs decides to pull the rug out from underneath them in terms of pre-existing conditions. For many, that's not an option. More importantly, statements like these are craven in their lack of empathy.

You might have a pre-existing condition. I do. If you don't, at the absolute least, you probably know someone who does.

The bill still has a ways to go before it becomes law.

If it is blocked by the Senate, it'll likely be due to people sharing their stories with their representatives, by calling them and writing them and letting them know just how much the AHCA will hurt them. If it is blocked by the Senate, it'll be the result of our lawmakers demonstrating a groundswell of empathy and compassion for their fellow human beings and constituents.

These stories, as absolutely heartbreaking as they are, can help change the world. And these are just a handful of the many devastating, frightened responses to be found on the #IAmAPreExistingCondition hashtag. We need to save health care for them and for us. We'll be a better country for it.

A pitbull stares at the window, looking for the mailman.


Dogs are naturally driven by a sense of purpose and a need for belonging, which are all part of their instinctual pack behavior. When a dog has a job to do, it taps into its needs for structure, purpose, and the feeling of contributing to its pack, which in a domestic setting translates to its human family.

But let’s be honest: In a traditional domestic setting, dogs have fewer chores they can do as they would on a farm or as part of a rescue unit. A doggy mom in Vancouver Island, Canada had fun with her dog’s purposeful uselessness by sharing the 5 “chores” her pitbull-Lab mix does around the house.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Kudos to the heroes who had 90 seconds to save lives in the Key Bridge collapse

The loss of 6 lives is tragic, but the dispatch recording shows it could have been so much worse.

Representative image by Gustavo Fring/Pexels

The workers who responded to the Dali's mayday call saved lives with their quick response.

As more details of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse in Baltimore emerge, it's becoming more apparent how much worse this catastrophe could have been.

Just minutes before 1:30am on March 26, shortly after leaving port in Baltimore Harbor, a cargo ship named Dali lost power and control of its steering, sending it careening into a structural pillar on Key Bridge. The crew of the Dali issued a mayday call at 1:26am to alert authorities of the power failure, giving responders crucial moments to prepare for a potential collision. Just 90 seconds later, the ship hit a pylon, triggering a total collapse of the 1.6-mile bridge into the Patapsco River.

Dispatch audio of those moments shows the calm professionalism and quick actions that limited the loss of life in an unexpected situation where every second counted.

Keep ReadingShow less

A woman looking at her phone while sitting on the toilet.


One of the most popular health trends over the last few years has been staying as hydrated as possible, evidenced by the massive popularity of 40-oz Stanely Quencher cups. The theory among those who obsess over hydration is that, when you pee clear, you’ve removed all the waste in your body and are enjoying the incredible benefits of being 100% hydrated. Congratulations.

However, according to Dr. Sermed Mezher, an NHS doctor in the UK, peeing clear isn’t always a sign of being healthy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

Yale's pep band had to miss the NCAA tournament. University of Idaho said, 'We got you.'

In an act of true sportsmanship, the Vandal band learned Yale's fight song, wore their gear and cheered them on.

Courtesy of University of Idaho

The Idaho Vandals answered the call when Yale needed a pep band.

Yale University and the University of Idaho could not be more different. Ivy League vs. state school. East Coast vs. Pacific Northwest. City vs. farm town. But in the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament, extenuating circumstances brought them together as one, with the Bulldogs and the Vandals becoming the "Vandogs" for a weekend.

When Yale made it to the March Madness tournament, members of the school's pep band had already committed to other travel plans during spring break. They couldn't gather enough members to make the trek across the country to Spokane, Washington, so the Yale Bulldogs were left without their fight song unless other arrangements could be made.

When University of Idaho athletic band director Spencer Martin got wind of the need less than a week before Yale's game against Auburn, he sent out a message to his band members asking if anyone would be interested in stepping in. The response was a wave of immediate yeses, so Martin got to work arranging instruments and the students dedicated themselves to learning Yale's fight song and other traditional Yale pep songs.

Keep ReadingShow less

An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don't be that parent.

Unfortunately, because of the misinformation from the anti-vaccination movement, some of these diseases have trended up in a really bad way over the past several years.

Keep ReadingShow less
Innovation

A student accidentally created a rechargeable battery that could last 400 years

"This thing has been cycling 10,000 cycles and it’s still going." ⚡️⚡️

There's an old saying that luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.

There's no better example of that than a 2016 discovery at the University of California, Irvine, by doctoral student Mya Le Thai. After playing around in the lab, she made a discovery that could lead to a rechargeable battery that could last up to 400 years. That means longer-lasting laptops and smartphones and fewer lithium ion batteries piling up in landfills.

Keep ReadingShow less