Last year I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. The Affordable Care Act saved my life, and is why I am in remission today. President Trump's pick has come out publicly against the ACA, in his record and most recently in his speech to the Heritage Foundation. His record against women's healthcare is also clear. Our Senators must listen to us and vote NO on Kavanaugh. Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/brett-kavanaugh-could-take-an-ax-to-obamacare/2018/07/09/c8817c50-83df-11e8-8f6c-46cb43e3f306_story.html Slate: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/07/how-brett-kavanaugh-will-gut-roe-v-wade.html

Stacy's chemotherapy worked! She was cancer free. However, the chemotherapy she took to kill her cancer also killed her heart. She had less than 10% usage of her heart and was placed on a pacemaker. She was a candidate for a mechanical heart but because she used Washington State approved medicinal marijuana, she was denied her Federal lifesaving treatment. She died on July 5, 2018. These laws need to coincide with one another. A cancer patient should never be denied treatment for using State LEGALIZED marijuana only to be denied lifesaving treatments on a Federal level.

Do we Choose Healthcare for all or ignore the US Constitution and face a moral hazard? Healthcare for all was clearly stated in the United States Constitution. Without healthcare for all it is not possible, “…to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity….” According to CDC, approximately 311 million US citizens out of 330 million participate in a single payer government health insurance scheme and an employer taxpayer subsidized scheme. Here is the breakdown: • Approximately 70 million are recipients of a single payer combined Medicaid and SCHIP program. • Approximately 44 million are recipients of a single payer Medicare program and that number is expected to increase to 80 million by 2030. • Approximately 22 million veterans and civilian families qualify for single payer VA benefits. • Approximately 175 million Americans participate in employer taxpayer subsidized health insurance. Who is left out? (330 – 175 – 22 – 44 – 70) = 19 million. In other words, while we have a near universal medical insurance coverage, 6 percent of the US population falls between the cracks. We can do better. When we mention health care for all based on a single payer scheme or Medicare for all, we are labeled socialist. What is in a name? Let us have a no name brand but cover everyone. In other words, whom do you want to leave out? Who doesn’t get sick? Who does not have a preexisting medical condition? All of us get sick, all of us need medicine and almost all of us have minor accidents. If one breaks a finger it needs treatment, which becomes a preexisting medical condition later. Since all of us need good quality health care because we cannot predict how and when we get sick, it is no-brainer that a rational health care system in our country should be to provide quality care for everyone in a cost-effective way. To paraphrase President Obama, when it comes to illnesses there are no red and blue states but only the United States. Republicans, Democrats, those registered unaffiliated and those adults who chose not to register get sick. Those who live under the jurisdiction of states regardless of their background need health care. It is not good enough to say, they can always visit emergency rooms. Yes, they can but if we all have preventive healthcare services we will not use the emergency room as often or for chronic conditions. Emergency rooms should be reserved for emergencies. Providing healthcare for all has nothing to do with socialism but attaching health insurance benefits to employments, was the biggest mistake the country has made, which stopped us from having a healthcare system that does not leave out 6% of the population. Providing healthcare for all is good governance and is the duty of our governments: local, state and national. Our system not only leaves out approximately 20 million people but it also leaves the country behind 37 countries in good health and longevity. The United States’ current average life expectancy is age 79 and decreasing. As of 2018, the United States is ranked number 26 among OECD member countries and number 38 globally but we are still the richest country in the world. Countries ahead of the United States in life expectancy are 28 Western European nations as well as 10 other countries: Japan, Australia, Singapore, Israel, Canada, New Zealand, South Korea, Chile, Slovenia and Costa Rica - ranging in life expectancy from age 80-84 in reverse order, Japan ranked number one in the world at age 84 and increasing. Our legislatures have health insurance for life and 311 million of us also have health insurance. But, we the people must speak up when we notice injustice so that we, “…form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility….” According to CDC, 1 in 10 of the US population is diabetic and approximately 85 million are pre-diabetic but only 11 percent of them know about it. Universal access to health insurance provides preventive care services and saves millions of lives and billions in healthcare related direct and indirect costs. Furthermore, lack of incentive to guard against risk where one is protected from its consequences is the dictionary definition of ‘a moral hazard’ and the absence of good governance. We can do better. Thank you,

To try to educate what the impact will be on chronic pain sufferers that need or are already under pain management. I fear everytime I go see my Doctor, that I may be taken off my medication that allows me to be a happy ,productive person.

To show the Maryland VA that there is a need for a permanent Veteran's Service's office and eventually a Veteran's Healthcare Clinic in Queen Anne's County

I have suffered from a severe spinal injury since 2016, and due to my age, various medical professionals have been hesitant to surgically rectify my situation with the hopes that it will naturally heal at some point. Medical marijuana has more successfully managed my chronic pain than my former treatment with narcotic medications such as Norco, Percocet, and Morphine, and its side effects are minimal in comparison to the harsh side effects, addictive nature, and withdrawal symptoms that are associated with narcotic medications. How I manage my disability when I am at home does not impact my ability to perform at any place of employment , and medical marijuana users need legal protection against employers to be able to manage their disability without fear of being terminated or not hirable due to an antiquated prejudice towards a helpful and now state-legal substance.

Tobacco smoking has become more and more restricted in public places. It is time it is banned from all TV and films. Stop promoting smoking visually!

I have Trigeminal Neuralgia, an unbearable disease, and know thousands more like me through Facebook support groups are having our meds cut and taken away! We are one disease; so many chronically ill patients and people coming home from surgeries are suffering also and our doctors don't like it! Stop these Pain Clinics from causing so much harm and causing more deaths and suicides by cutting and taking away our medicines and just watching us, the chronically ill, go through excruciating, unbearable pain!! Return our health care back in the hands of caring personal Physicians! Please sign and share this petition so we can stop the pain and return to our functional lives, thank you...

Evidence says that when nurses are safe, patients are safe. When nurses are not safely staffed, mortality, readmissions and medical errors increase. Nurses are the frontline healthcare workers and ethically-bound to advocate for the care of their patients. Putting patients first means investing in safe nurse staffing. Safe Staffing Units at UCMC are continually short staffed – a potentially dangerous practice that can lead to compromised patient care, especially with the ill patients UCMC sees as a result of being the Greater Cincinnati area’s only Level 1 trauma center. Although the medical center’s nurse staffing plans call for more nurses, UCMC is requiring nurses to care for more patients than ever. UCMC nurses routinely work short staffed which leads to exponential turnover, nurse fatigue, burnout, and increased risk of harm to their patients. Nurses at UCMC are standing united in their efforts to put patients first, demanding the medical center invest in safe nurse staffing. Safe nurse staffing means Cincinnatians receive the quality care they deserve. Nurse Turnover Nurses at UCMC have to be the top in their field; they care for sickest patients in the tri-state area. Yet, UCMC nurses are paid up to $4/hour less than nurses at neighboring hospitals. The lower wages coupled with short staffing has caused record turnover. In three years, UCMC has lost over 800 skilled nurses. Nearly 1,000 letters were sent to the medical center’s new Chief Nursing Officer outlining the nurses’ issues and asking for a collaborative opportunity to make things right. While the nurses are hopeful for change, they need your help to ensure their voices are heard. Sign this petition to tell UCMC management to listen to the nurses and put patients first. About RNA and UCMC The Registered Nurses Association (RNA) is the union representing the registered nurses of University of Cincinnati Medical Center. With approximately 1,500 members, RNA advocates for quality health care and strives to provide the best care in the tri-state area. RNA is currently negotiating a contract with UCMC that ensures quality patient care and safe nurse staffing. RNA is a constituent of the Ohio Nurses Association, AFT Nurses and Health Professionals and the American Nurses Association. UCMC is a comprehensive, teaching hospital that provides access to health care for all of the Tri-State area, regardless of ability to pay. Cincinnati families depend on UCMC being ready for any health emergency and medical condition. UCMC is the only Level 1 trauma center in the city, only one of seven psychiatric emergency departments in the country, conducts liver, kidney, pancreas and heart transplants, is a comprehensive stroke center and holds burn, heart failure, perinatal and baby friendly certifications.

We must change our laws to save the lives of those who suffer from mental illness and brain damage as a result of doctors, work-related injuries, accidents, repeated head trauma concussions, by accident, medical negligence, and bullying. The police fail to respond when called. In many states, their hands are tied. If a loved one calls and knows that their loved one is intent on suicide, and if they are asked the typical questions by the police, they deny they intend to harm themselves or others, so the police leave. In my own situation, the police were in fact well aware that my husband suffered brain damage, two frontal lobe strokes, and that I had all the legal documents required to make all decisions regarding his care; signed, witnessed, and notarized by my own state representatives. But the day I called them for help and assistance, they refused to even look at my documents, which I always keep by my front door for emergency assistance. One time they showed up and actually threatened to lock everyone up in my home except me when my husband was having a violent outburst due to the brain damage caused by the doctors in Naples, Florida, who indeed got away with what they did to my husband. First, the doctors offered $500; I guess that is the going rate for a life in Florida. Then, They offered nothing, instead used our deceased 2-year-old daughter as a weapon and used that as the cause of him taking his life on June 4, 2016. It was never even about money, but being held accountable, admitting they indeed did misread his MRIs, which was proven; that they apologize and acknowledge they made a horrible mistake that resulted in brain damage, which ended with my beloved husband’s suicide. We will never get over the years he suffered, we watched the happy man he was become a shell of a man; a man who believed he was a burden who would forget to eat. He started hearing things, his eyesight going, the constant pain in his head from the holes they drilled into his head. I took my husband, as did 911 Assistance, to that hospital with discharge after discharge, and the whole time he was slowly dying. The final trip, after he was released yet again - three trips in three days - they told me after I called to complain, sick with worry about why they kept discharging him, the head nurse told me sarcastically that if I was not happy to bring him back, which I did. They asked him his pain level on a scale of 1 to 10; he said a 12. They joked and never even checked him, ordering him a Percocet and left him in the bed. I had no idea he was in fact already dying; his brain had already shifted and hemorrhaged from the subdural hematoma. They in fact never did pay a penny; laughed with smug arrogance, and used our dead child as a weapon against him. Even in death, they disrespected him. The Philadelphia police, of course, covered up their actions that horrible day. Since when do you need a judge’s order for an MRI? You do not, especially when they knew he suffered brain damage and found him before and took him to a mental hospital for care because he was so depressed; brain damaged and depressed. We must change our laws so that when police are called by anyone in fear of their loved one's life, they know something is terribly wrong. Yet the police do nothing unless the person admits their intent, which nobody intent on suicide ever admits. Then those loved ones rush to get a judge’s order and too many times are too late, their loved ones did end their life. As suicide shatters loved ones and families, my numbers are growing every day. The suffering of those left behind to try to understand what they could have done; even knowing the signs does not help if the police when called walk away only to be called back after the person is gone. My own husband, I never even had the chance to hold him, reassure him he would be ok because I was rushing to do what the Philadelphia police told me to do, because they said to me, call us back when you have a judges order. Internal Affairs covered up what they did. No lawyer would go up against the Philadelphia police due to the change in liability laws. So I lost a husband, my children a father, grandbabies their Pop Pop. We are losing the war on suicide, and it is a war. We must remove the stigma attached to those who suffer; suffer in silence. I for one am tired of our children ending their lives from bullying; that is another petition. I have to make bullying a federal offense and classified as a hate crime; hold parents accountable for the cruel actions of their children that result in the death of another child by suicide. We must not let the police ignore our pleas for help for our loved ones. They have no problem locking up a drunk but do not do anything when called for assistance for a person intent on suicide. Please sign and share. It is time for a change in accountability. I had a police officer and a schoolteacher ask me if I could help them since their hands are tied when it comes to mental illness and brain damage. Will I be the voice for them? Yes, I am. I would never want any family to suffer as mine does. My own son was bullied so bad he has been in therapy for over 22 years and has tried 9 times to take his life. I worry everyday will he still be with me when I wake up, and he found his father still alive on our deck with tears rolling down his face as he and my neighbor tried to save him. He was never even taken by ambulance, and the police just left my home as I was rushing to get home to him to take him myself, but it was too late. But it is not too late for others. Please help change our laws. Give the power the police need to listen and act on our fears. It will save many lives.

This petition is in honor of Jade Bridier's battle with DIPG ( Diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas). Many are not aware of the severity of the brain tumor in children. Parents shouldn't be the only ones raising funds. We need national support to change the 4% given to pediatric cancer research. Please consider signing and helping us start with Texas and grow nationally.

I want to fight for our families, friends, those we know and those we don't. Life is short enough. For such a preventable situation, we need financial resources, better facilities, more professionals and those that not only treat adults but minors, there is extreme lack of care for minors. We need better background checks so there isn't internal abuse to those who are seeking treatment and not adding to the list of what they are going through. We need your help today to spread the word now. Remember it starts with ONE.