Before you read my son Daniel’s story, I would like to ask you to sign up right now for a NNU Movement Builder training. It took Daniel’s death for me to get active and fight for Medicare for All, but we need everyone to mobilize and pass Medicare for All before more people lose their lives because of our backwards system. Sign up for a Movement Builder training right now. Sign up for a training »

*Content Warning: Suicide and Depression*

My name is Scott Desnoyers, and I’m going to tell you about how our broken health care system is responsible for the death of my son Daniel.

Daniel was a son, a father, a sibling, and a friend. Life wasn’t easy for him though, being diagnosed with mild psychosis and depression. He relied on Risperidone, an antipsychotic medication used to treat his mental disorder.

One day while trying to refill his medication, he was denied and told his insurance had been cut off. His exact words to me that day were, “Pops, I know I need this medication.” 

When he called his insurance company to ask about his loss of care, they told him it was because of a single $20 payment he missed. He was unaware of this and made the payment on the phone that very day, but was told his insurance would not resume until the next month.

A known side effect of going off any typical antipsychotic is suicidal thoughts, which can happen in as little as 2 weeks. And that was exactly how long it took for those thoughts to reach Daniel’s limit. 

He then took his own life by gluing his seatbelt into the buckle and driving his car into a nearby river.

I can't be quiet when such cold cruel judgement has been delivered to my son for missing a $20 payment to a corporation that reported a $60.1 billion revenue in 2018. 

In the richest nation in the world we allow the insurance industry to write laws and deliver them to our lawmakers’ desks, wrapped in a pretty campaign-donation wrapping paper. If we were a just nation that put its people before the profits of the oligarchy, if America was a real democracy, then none of us would have to be here today. None of us would be living this hell in the hands of billionaires’ profits that we are today. I am standing up to demand that our nation put its people before money.

If we had a single payer system like Medicare for All, my son would have been able to get his medication and would still be alive today. 

The sad fact is Daniel’s story is far from unique, and I refuse to see more families go through the pain and suffering we endured from the loss of our son at the hands of our corporate-controlled broken health care system. 

The only way we’ll be able to honor his life and the life of every person who has died or is struggling right now due to a lack of care is by getting mobilized, getting involved, and building this movement to win Medicare for All.

Passing Medicare for All would give every person in this country the right to free, quality health care that could have saved my son. Will you join me in this fight for Medicare for All by joining an NNU Movement Builder training?

Sign up for a training »

People tried to tell me that Daniel wouldn't have lost his care if he was more aware of his payments. People told me I was responsible for not knowing he had an unpaid balance. But the fact is no one deserves to die because they missed a $20 payment. 

We can’t sit back and let these corporations stall reform efforts while people like my son die because they are denied the care they need. It’s time our politicians stand up for us, and demand a health care system that prioritizes the people.

Get active, get motivated, and demand change with me in this movement to fight for Medicare for All. Embodying solidarity means that #NoOneFightsAlone.

Thank you for listening to Daniel’s story, 

Scott Desnoyers