More information, contact: Donnie Blatt (740) 504-8900; dblatt@usw.org
Columbus, Ohio – A young Ohio father and his baby boy who battled brain cancer at the same time are among the 22 million Americans at risk of losing health insurance if a bill being considered by the United States Senate becomes law. The family is featured in a new video released today urging lawmakers to vote no.
The video, posted at http://www.usw.org/Nathan, urges viewers to call 1-877-607-0785 to tell their senators to vote no on the disastrous health care bill. It shares the story of Ryan and Nathan Link of Mt. Vernon, Ohio. Both have a rare genetic disorder called Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, which mutates the tumor-blocking genes making them susceptible to cancers.
“Fighting brain cancer was the toughest thing our family has gone through,” said Ryan, who works three jobs to pay medical bills. “Now we’re fighting politicians who could take away the health care that saves my son’s life and my own life.”
“My husband and my son have lifelong health care needs and could be facing future cancer. If this bill goes through we won’t be able to afford insurance for either of them because of their pre-existing conditions, not to mention the unaffordable medical costs that are currently capped or illegal under the Affordable Care Act,” said Maggie Link, Ryan’s wife and Nathan’s mother, who works as a daycare center assistant director.
Maggie is the daughter of USW District 1 Assistant to the Director Donnie Blatt, who was among the Ohio Steelworkers who planned to meet with Sen. Rob Portman’s office today to share the video and urge him to vote against the “Better Care Reconciliation Act.”
“It was horrific watching our daughter, son-in-law and grandbaby go through this, and it’s just as horrifying knowing what this health care bill could do to our family and millions of other families,” Blatt said. “We need everyone to call their senators and stop this bill.”
The USW is the largest industrial union in North America and has 850,000 members employed in many industries that include metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service and public sectors. For more info: @Steelworkers on social media and www.usw.org.