LETTER: Don't let Trump ruin ACA

Homeostasis is any self-regulating process by which an organism tends to maintain stability while adjusting to conditions that are best for its survival. If homeostasis is successful, life continues; if it's unsuccessful, it results in a disaster or death of the organism.

I am a 73-year-old male with an extensive education. In 1975, I partnered with a friend and together we started a communications company in upstate New York. In 1978, we moved the company to New Mexico, and in 1979 I became a homeowner in Rio Rancho. Fast forward to 1980: I am an owner in a small communications installation company, based in Rio Rancho and doing well. I joined the Rio Rancho Volunteer Fire Department, became an EMT and married a local woman that I loved with all my soul.

What is it that a communications engineer does? We design, develop and maintain systems that facilitate the transmission of information, such as voice, data and video, across various platforms. Our work ensures that communication networks — like telecommunication systems, internet services and radio broadcasting systems — are secure, reliable and efficient. In short, communications engineers are responsible for the infrastructure that keeps the world connected and driving innovation in technologies which power everything from smart cities to space exploration.

But back then, health insurance was not available for individuals. It was only affordable if you belonged to a group plan. Well, my wife was ill and I needed health insurance. This led me into a whole new world in which I had a second job at a hospital-based ambulance company. Employed as an EMT-IV, my training included the proper, medical way to transport a sick or injured person, by ambulance, from one place to a medical facility. The pay was minimal, but it included health insurance.

It is now the year 2000, and my life is about to be turned upside down. I have a coronary infarction. It is severe enough to require a cabbage. During recovery, I lose my hearing in my right ear. No reason, no infection, no trauma. Just gone. I can no longer provide emergency care to people and lose my ambulance job. By the end of the year, my wife goes in for a routine procedure and dies. While all that is going on, the home I built, the mortgage was called by the bank. Not for no payment — because I was “self-employed with no other income.”

My home was sold, and I moved into an apartment in Rio Rancho.

By the beginning of 2005, the economy went bad and my company went under. One of the contributing factors to my bankruptcy was the crushing health care debt I was under. Don’t let Trump’s policies weaken the Affordable Care Act. Instead, contact your representatives, make your voice heard. Tell them you want the health care insurance companies held responsible for the waste and exploitation going on in the industry. Be a voice that purges Trump’s policies and brings back, for the people, homeostasis.

Joseph LaCarrubba

Rio Rancho