A Musician With ALS Shares What The Healthcare Reform Would Mean For Him

The new GOP healthcare bill (otherwise known as Senate's Better Care Reconciliation Act) has yet to pass, but it has already proven to be vastly unpopular. The proposed healthcare reform has already seen opposition from the general public, plenty of senators, and Barack Obama himself.

Musician Jason Becker says he "usually stays out of politics," but the proposed bill has motivated him to speak up, as someone who has amylotropic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

"I’m about music, not politics, but the fact is this one has me freaked out for poor and disabled people," he wrote in a Facebook post. "I have survived ALS to continue my work as a musician and composer for 28 years due to the care I receive through insurance and Medicaid."

Without those benefits, he said, he wouldn't be able to manage his healthcare, and his career would be in serious jeopardy.

According to CNN, Becker was diagnosed with ALS before his 21st birthday, and was given no more than five years to live. Now, at 47, he's reflecting upon the support that brought him to where he is today.

"When President Trump promised we would get better, cheaper healthcare that would fix the problems of the Affordable Care Act, I hoped it was true," he wrote. "Unfortunately, the American Healthcare Act promises giant cuts to the programs that I and every other poor, sick and disabled person have relied on for our lives."

As the Congressional Budget Office reports, the new healthcare bill would reduce federal Medicaid spending by $772 billion over the next decade, and cover an estimated 15 billion fewer people.

"None of these reductions in benefits is offset by any other aspect of the bill," Becker wrote. "The only beneficiaries of these drastic cuts are the wealthy, who are set to receive a tax break if the bill passes."

"It breaks my heart that this country could forsake its own most vulnerable citizens in this way, placing no value on the lives of the poor and sick," he continued. "So I am asking you: please call and email your senators right away, telling them you want them to stand up for those who can’t by demanding a better solution for American healthcare and voting against the AHCA as it is currently written."

For now, voting on the bill has been postponed until after the July 4 recess — meaning that there's still time for you to call your senators if you're angered by its proposals.