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Dear John,
This time of year is a complicated time for my family. Before my twin brother and I were born, we had an older brother who celebrated his first birthday on December 13th. A month later, my father was practicing the CPR he had learned as an Eagle Scout on our brother's chest as he tried to wake up Daniel from a nap. Daniel was taken in a screaming ambulance to the nearest hospital with firefighters and medics working on his small body. When they arrived at the hospital, my parents pleaded with the doctors that they would pay for any surgery, medicine, life support possible if the doctors could just save their little boy. Our brother died that day and I grew up knowing that the pain of losing a child is not something a parent ever heals from - it is something they just learn to live with. Another part of my older brother's tragic story that we, Americans, have just learned to live with is that as soon as my brother needed care that was beyond my parents' capabilities to provide, a tab started running. My parents didn't bring home their son that devastating day, but they brought home hospital, ambulance, and funeral bills. On the worst day of my parents lives, our for profit healthcare system found it appropriate and necessary to charge a grieving family for not saving their son. This makes me furious. The United States healthcare system is the most expensive healthcare system in the entire world, yet has one of the worst health outcomes. Daniel's death contributed to both of those statistics. Growing up, my family formed several holiday traditions, but the holiday tradition I was always the most gentle with was the decorating of our tree. Every year, the ornament that was closest to the star sitting on top of the tree was an angel named Daniel. There isn't medicine or doctors who could've saved Daniel, but the politicians who uphold a healthcare system that exploits people like my parents are still sitting in office. I am running against one of those politicians built off corporate greed and I need your help in unseating him. Hospitals, insurance companies, and politicians shouldn't be profiting from the worst day of someone's life. Alexandra
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