Stories from the Field
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Saskia
Saskia has been a Type I Diabetic for the past 18 years and relies on taking two types of insulin every single day to stay alive. One vial of each type of insulin costs over $200, and Saskia uses upwards of four vials of each type of insulin every month. The monthly price of one…
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Emily
Emily takes multiple medications for various reasons, but the ones that have affected her the most are for a chronic illness related to neuropathy, which she takes three different medications for. When she switched jobs, and subsequently switched her insurance, the cost of her medications increased and she went from paying $20 to $150 per…
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Kira
Kira is passionate about lowering the price of prescription medications and paid family and medical leave. Kira shared that shortly after she gave birth to her daughter, she went into anaphylactic shock but could not afford the cost of the EpiPen or the medication she was expected to take afterward. She said that the government…
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John
John used to be a teacher, and during his time teaching, he would often need to stay after work with other teachers as students were waiting to be picked up. John said that many parents could not pick their kids up until later, many definitely could not afford child care, and so the teachers became…
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Dana
Dana made the decision three years ago to stay home with her son as she could not bear the thought of putting him in day care after he came early. Dana ran her business out of her home during the day, and also worked part-time at home in the evenings, to avoid needing to pay…
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Chiela
Chiela is a small business owner and all five members of her family play a role in running her store. Last year, they each came down with COVID over the course of five weeks, and the store had to remain closed in the interest of public safety. Without paid family and medical leave, having to…