I worked as an emergency physician before and after the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Before the ACA, I treated dozens of uninsured patients in the E.R. every day. They were uninsured not because they didn’t want insurance or didn’t think they needed it. They were uninsured because they couldn’t afford insurance.

I treated Sarah, a 47-year-old nurse’s aide. She was diagnosed with breast cancer that had spread throughout her body. If her cancer had been caught early, she could have been cured. Instead, she died six months later, leaving her three young children without a mother. I took care of Jesse, a 56-year-old construction supervisor. His medications cost more than his monthly rent; he skipped doses of his insulin and cut his blood pressure pills in quarters to save money. One day, his blood pressure was so high that he suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed on one side. He could no longer speak, work, or take care of his family.

Earlier this week in Annapolis, I expressed my full support for legislation that will protect a key mechanism of the ACA. Health insurance is about people’s lives, and we need to do everything possible to safeguard life. The ACA enabled over 400,000 Marylanders to become insured. We have made so much progress to improve health, and we cannot afford to roll back these gains. The 2018 Maryland Legislative Session started this week, and we are looking forward to working with our elected officials to protect all Marylanders’ access to healthcare.

Access to healthcare is access to life, and health is a basic human right. As we wrote in a Slate article published this week, My team and I understand how health is integrally tied to social justice and the future of our communities. I am proud to work towards a more equitable Baltimore every day with a team that is dedicated to this goal.

Sincerely,

Leana Wen, M.D., M.Sc.

Subscribe to the Bmore Healthy newsletter.