A.T. has been guardian for their disabled adult brother, Stephen, for twenty years and has served as the Chief Diversity Officer at UNO and Professor of History and Professor of Communication, Fine Arts, and Media.  They are currently part of the leadership of OutNebraska and lives near downtown Omaha in Little Italy.  They are active in the arts and perform as a poet and musician, while also enjoying the outdoors.  With husband, Craig, they were plaintiffs in the ACLU lawsuit for partner benefits in the state of Michigan and have been together over 25 years. Stephen's care would cost at least five figures monthly but for the support of medicare and medicaid along with social security disability and SNAP benefits, and resides in a supported living situation.

I am a cattle rancher whose family's business was born from the Homestead Act and have been in business since 1888.  The ACA brought us slightly higher healthcare insurance premiums, but much more comprehensive coverage. Starting after ACA was enacted, we would change our plan and our utilized subsidy about every year according to cattle prices and whether we anticipated big medical procedures in the coming year.  We always qualified for a subsidy.  It helped when years were lean and we would either go with high premium, low out-of-pocket or vice-versa. This year our premiums jumped a thousand dollars a month with the plan we chose.

I am a member of the (Dept. of Agriculture) appointed CBB.  (Cattlemen's Beef Board) and a former FSA State Committee member (under Biden).  I am also a former 20 year member of a union under the Railway Labor Act, and I carry a Nebraska and Colorado Teachers Cert.  

My name is Melinda, but I go by Mindy; I'm 50 years old. I am married, and I have two grown adult children that are living with us to help with costs. Right now, my biggest concerns are my medical issues, and without health care subsidies, I'm screwed. I have two surgeries I have been trying to schedule for years, and now it will be harder. I am a survivor of sexual, mental, and physical abuse as well as domestic violence, and I'm still trying to heal.

I have been sick for as long as I remember. When I turned 14, my nervous system began to shut down—first paralyzing my stomach, then allowing me to become malnourished, even when eating. When I turned 16, I had a stroke-like event, forcing me to use a walker. Further diseases piled on: liver disease, cyclic vomiting syndrome, chronic migraines and ulcers, PCOS, Pots, autonomic and peripheral neuropathy, macular edema, and papillary thyroid carcinoma as of this year. Hospital visits were frequent as we tried to discover what was going on, and I had the fear of a life consumed by medical debt that I could never hope to pay off.

I am very thankful to be eligible for a low income program through my hospital that allows me to get these expensive treatments that are not covered. Regardless of its problems, mostly due to underfunding, I am incredibly lucky to be on Medicaid.

My name is Katy, served in the army as a combat medic. After I was injured, I was medically retired. I have 2 amazing boys. I advocate for Veterans rights, and democracy. I relied on WIC and SNAP before, both in my service and after, as a disabled veteran. I speak out because I remember the hateful comments when I dared get my son the frozen chicken nuggets he likes. I remember the whispers or outright blatantly loud rude comments, one I can still hear. The cashier at the grocery store told me, in uniform, with my baby, that I was a "drain on society."

Proud South Omaha native graduated from Omaha South High School and University of Nebraska at Omaha. Worked over 30 years in the financial services/credit card industry, a stress filled on-call 24 hours and holidays job.

Saved and scrimped to retire 7 years ago to dedicate my time to give back to the community by volunteering for a variety of organizations. Husband is a superintendent for a small general contractor and does not have health insurance through work and we rely on ACA to have insurance and keep him healthy with a variety of pre-existing conditions.

I took Commercial Art at Southeast Community College. I have lived in many places, of which Germany for nearly 7 years was my favorite. While there, I traveled all over Europe and have been back to the states for 20 years now. I have met many wonderful people all over the world which I think has given me a much wider view of the world and has kept me with an open mind. Life is not a competition or a race. Life is hard enough on a good day. We need to help each other to live our best lives.