“Accidental Activist” Terri Carlson Joins HEAL Team

November 18, 2016

By Georgia Brewer

Stories,News Feed/Stories

HEAL California is thrilled to announce that Terri Carlson is joining our team! Terri is the creative genius behind the video “Will Marry for Health Insurance” that exposed the cruel impact of pre-existing condition exclusions used by health insurers for decades. One of the major reforms of Obamacare was to ban these exclusions. But now that the President-elect is talking “repeal,” Terri has chosen to add her powerful voice to the fight for a California Medicare for All system! Read Terri’s letter –

Dear Friends and Followers,

It’s hard to believe it’s been 6 years since I became an “accidental activist” with my YouTube video “Will Marry for Health Insurance!” With a year left on my COBRA and nobody willing to insure me due to my pre-existing genetic condition, I set out to shine a light on one of the cruelest practices of the health insurance industry.

At Risk of Losing Everything

At the time, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was on “life support” and unlikely to pass.  I was at risk of losing everything I had worked for my whole life to one huge hospital bill. Desperate, I put my anger into action by making my video.

Prior to the ACA, I developed strong ties to communities of people with pre-existing conditions. I helped thousands of very ill people get health insurance. I did this by teaching them how to use existing health insurance law and regulations to get covered. Many were under threat of losing their homes just to pay for a loved ones’ care.

Marry for Health Insurance? 

My video drove home that American healthcare is so crazy, some of us have to even consider marriage as the only way to get health insurance in the USA. It was never my intent to marry for health insurance but rather to give a face to those cut off from insurance due to pre-existing conditions.

And it went viral! My story was picked up in the blogsphere and I’ve done dozens of interviews for television, radio and magazines all over the world!

Here’s an interview I did for CBS news, just to take you back to the “bad old days” before Obamacare:

I’ve been a very outspoken voice for a single payer system, like Medicare for All, for more than 5 years now. I feel this is the only real answer to our growing healthcare crisis.Although my healthcare reform work has continued, after the ACA passed I felt safe that at least I had insurance until we could get something better.

Last week’s election of Mr. Trump rocked my foundation and that of thousands of other people that I’ve helped over the years.

Trump Won?  I’m Ba-ack!

It became very clear to me last week that we are not safe. I also realized I could no longer make significant progress alone, as a single voice. And although I strongly support a national solution to our healthcare fiasco, it looks impossible to achieve with Mr. Trump.

So, I decided to go local, starting right here in my home state. I’m teaming up with HEAL California, an online community of healthcare advocates promoting Healthcare Equality At Last!

A California Dream for Everyone

I, too, want to HEAL California with guaranteed access to comprehensive, affordable and high quality health care, no matter our health, wealth, race, gender or anything else. I agree that money – or marriage – should never be a factor in our health care!

I’ll focus my attention on educating people about on-going inequality in health care, how private health insurance fails us, and how California can lead the nation with innovations like Medicare for All.

As Ryunosuke Satoro said, “Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean.”

Thank you for your continued support in our journey to make sure everyone is covered and nobody is ever left out.

Terri Carlson

If you believe, like Terri does, that we can fix healthcare for real, join us and stay informed! Sign up for our newsletter below and join us on Twitter and Facebook.