I'm one of those millions. That's right one of those millions of American's out of work.
I'm a lawyer. And I found myself rather unceremoniously laid off back January. Black Thursday I think they called it - half a million of us in one day (or so it was announced).
Now, here we are in November, 9 months later.
Still jobless. In a new city. Sick. And about to lose my insurance coverage.
If you think it's mostly carpenters, bricklayers, factory workers and folks that are typically hit hard by "lay offs" - think again.
Many of us are attorneys. mortgage brokers. bankers, administrative technocrats, real estate agents, bank officers, car salespeople.
Yeah. All the folks you love to hate.
I never "chased an ambulance." I never got paid an obscene bonus.
No. I worked on some big complex cases for some very rich people. I was an employee of a firm that did lots of that kind of work.
I diligently paid my bills including tens of thousands of dollars in student loans. I rode public transportation to and from work. I lived modestly if comfortably in a rented apartment.
At the same time, on my own, I represented a woman in her divorce and custody case. She could not otherwise afford an attorney at exhorbitant Boston rates that firms charge.
I drafted a will for a client who just wanted to make sure all her stuff got safely to the people she loved with as little tax complication as possible. She didn't want anything complicated and especially not a complicated fee structure.
Meanwhile, my firm liked me. They praised my work. They just couldn't keep me busy enough to justify my existence in their marbled foyers, cherry paneled conference rooms and their thick carpeted hallways.
But little did they know I'd still be around in one way. I would still be in their insurance pool.
Thanks to the Obama stimulus package, my insurance became surprisingly (and blessedly) affordable through a 65% subsidy to my COBRA insurance premium.
Huge sigh of relief. I might have to flip 'burgers again. Okay. Done it before and I can do it again.
But I cannot be without insurance. I'm a diabetic. I'm 49 years old.
Then, six months into my continued unemployment the sky began to fall on me.
In June I was diagnosed with cancer.
It's not going to kill me. At least it doesn't appear to be the case right now.
The COBRA subsidy in the stimulus package that's making it possible for me to have the unbelievably expensive treatments that are going to keep me alive? They expire at the end of this month.
In December - still unemployed, now sick and undergoing treatment for cancer - my insurance premium will increase by more than $500 a month. $500 a month.
Frantic, I've been monitoring RSS feeds and news clip services for action on this. For a long time, nothing. Then last week Congressman Joe Sestak stepped up. Here's what he proposes extend the subsidy right along with unemployment benefits.
An extension to Unemploymnet benefits is a no brainer and almost done. Politically highly visible and popular with voters while unemployment still hovers around 10% and we approach a mid-term election.
But no on is talking about our soon to be lost insurance.
And once it's gone... who will pick up a middle aged, diabetic cancer patient?
I need your help. I don't need your money. I DON'T need your sympathy. I definitely don't need your pink ribbons. I don't even need you to walk or run in a race for me. I'll do that when I'm better.
I need you to contact YOUR congressman and get them to look at Sestak's bill to extend the COBRA subsidy. it's HR 3930.
I need you to write to your newspaper.
I need you to raise awareness. Create "buzz." Generate urgency.
I need you to take action. And don't wait.
The wait is gonna kill me.