Any healthcare change can be catastrophic for any healthy person. Now think about those with a Special Need: physical handicap to mental handicap and how it affects them, especially when so many are in Medicare. For many, years have been spent years paying out of pocket for services while trying to get their child(ren) into the Medicare system, now some will go about their day and wait to see what Congress will do, while others begin to scramble for a backup plan – PB/TK
Inequality and Opportunity in America
These are the people at the mercy of Trump’s healthcare bill – By Drew Philpe / June 20 2017
With a green mohawk, colored to match his wrist wraps and the lettering on his team’s shirts, Andrew ‘Big Diesel’ Dziezak steps up to the deadlift bar bearing a weight of 385 lbs. His parents sit in the audience surrounded by 15 team-mates and half a dozen coaches, expectant. This is Big Diesel’s first of three deadlifts of the day.
The sides of his head have been shaved into two symbols: on the left a puzzle piece, a common icon for autism awareness, the condition for which Big Diesel was diagnosed. On the other, a barbell bearing the weight ‘400’, his gold-winning personal best from the previous year’s state championship for Indiana’s Special Olympics.
Diesel lifts the 385 lbs with relative ease and a shout, and the three white lights indicating a clean lift from each of the judges signal a small victory. As he exits the platform he hi-fives his coach, chalk dust pluming from their exultation.
Two more lifts until a winner will stand atop the podium bearing a gold medal.
“I learned everything [from the Special Olympics],” said Diesel. “I feel more confident. I look forward to this all year.”
Leslie Dziezak, Diesel’s mother, is delighted. “Definitely his communication skills have gotten better – he’s just blooming,” she says. She coaches a Special Olympics volleyball team warming up just down the hall. “There’s so much love and acceptance here. It’s like the biggest family you’ll ever have.”
Continue to theguardian.com article: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jun/20/people-indiana-republican-healthcare-bill-insurance
