Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez spoke at the House Oversight and Reform committee last week. The discussion was about the inflated prices of prescription drugs. I think we are all within one to three degrees of separation from someone whose health is at risk because they cannot afford their medication. Alexandria was one degree from someone, and that person was her father, who died of lung cancer in 2008. The treatment the family pursued to keep him alive crippled them financially, which is why, Alexandria said, she was working at a bar before she was elected to congress.
New York City Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez knows first-hand the toll illness can take on a family, having lost her father to cancer in 2008.
The congresswoman, 29, recently relayed the story of dad Sergio Ocasio-Roman’s struggle and the financial tailspin into which his loved ones were plunged after his death.
“When I was 16 years old, my father was diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer,” Ocasio-Cortez said at a prescription drug prices hearing held by the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Friday. “He was in experimental trials in order to save his life. My family almost lost our home in order to try to keep him alive and just try to keep our family together.”
Ocasio-Roman, 48, died in September 2008 — just before his daughter started her sophomore year at Boston University.
“Many people know that I was working in a restaurant when I got elected [last year], but they don’t know why,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the hearing. “And the reason why was because we lost my father to a rare form of lung cancer. We couldn’t find treatment for him.”
The Democratic lawmaker then turned her attention to the patients present at the hearing, including Sa’ra Skipper of Indianapolis, who has diabetes and pays $1,000 per month with insurance for her insulin.
“When insulin was first developed, the patent was sold for $1. Do you know the reason why it’s $1,000 with insurance for you?” Ocasio-Cortez asked. “Neither do I. Frankly, I don’t think corporations will give us a reason why.”
I’ve spoken before about healthcare. My family’s insurance company picked up a tab we didn’t expect them to (self-inflicted wound). Had they not, it would have changed the course of our lives. We would’ve never recovered financially. I currently have two friends in diabetic hell due to the cost of insulin. It’s terrifying. Alexandria’s story is unfortunately not uncommon. Many families have lost their home or taken on second jobs to try to cover medical expenses. I like that the Freshman class in Congress is legislating from real experience, not just theory. It’s easy to vote down a minimum wage bill when Daddy funded your Ivy League school. But Alexandria worked a bar job to save her father’s life. And she kept at it because she couldn’t come out from under the crushing medical bill. I’ll bet 90% of those in Congress don’t have any idea what that’s like so of course they have no problem saying universal healthcare isn’t necessary.
I like AOC, even if our politics are not always aligned. I think she’s a good counter-balance to the entrenched politicians in Congress right now. I do not know understand the constant string of insulting language used towards her. Later in the People article I referenced above, the author wrote:
Ocasio-Cortez, one of the House of Representatives’ most prominent progressive voices, is an advocate for universal health care, frequently invoking her father’s illness and resulting turmoil.
By way of example, People embedded the tweet AOC posted as tribute to her late father on the 10 year anniversary of his death. She is mourning the loss of her father, who didn’t live to see how high on the ladder his daughter is rising. She is using her personal experiences to help govern her constituents. She is not invoking her dead dad for her personal gain or sympathy. Do better, media.
Photo credit: Getty Images
