Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Healthcare Activist With ALS Just Gave Powerful Testimony in Support of Medicare for All Using Text to Voice Computer Program

Healthcare Activist With ALS Just Gave Powerful Testimony in Support of Medicare for All Using Text to Voice Computer Program
@cspan/Twitter

A powerful voice.

As the national push for Medicare for All continues to gain steam, one prominent voice delivered powerful testimony in favor of the proposal to the House Rules Committee on Tuesday.

Ady Barkan, an activist with late-stage ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease), spoke before the Committee using text to voice software in the first ever congressional hearing on single-payer health care.


"For twenty years, since I was a freshman on my high school debate team, I have been giving speeches and presentations on topics like health care reform and the federal budget," Barkan began. "But never before have I given a speech without my natural voice. Never before have I had to rely on a synthetic voice to lay out my arguments, convey my most passionately held beliefs, tell the details of my personal story.”

Barkan's story began three years ago when he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a disease in which neurons controlling voluntary muscle movement die. Since then, Barkan has lost his ability to walk and speak.

The challenges Barkan and his family have faced as a result of America's inept healthcare system "are far from unique," he said. "Every family is eventually confronted with serious illness or accidents... all of us need medical care. And yet in this country, the wealthiest in the history of human civilization, we do not have an effective or fair or rational system for delivering that care."

Watch Barkan's moving speech below:

Barkan explained that even though he and his family enjoy quality insurance, his illness requires out-of-pocket expenses for "24-hour home care" that runs "$9,000 every month" because much of what he requires is not covered.

And his options are limited.

"The alternative is for me to go on Medicare and move into a nursing home, away from my wife and my son,” Barkan said. “So we are cobbling together the money, from friends and family and supporters all over the country. But this is an absurd way to run a health care system. GoFundMe is a terrible substitute for smart congressional action.”

Barkan touched on how "like so many others," he and his wife Rachel "have had to fight with" their insurer, which has issued “outrageous denials instead of covering the benefits we’ve paid for. Barkan added:

"We have so little time left together, and yet our system forces us to waste it dealing with bills and bureaucracy. That is why I am here today, urging you to build a more rational, fair, efficient, and effective system. I am here today to urge you to enact Medicare for All."

Barkan listed three reasons why he believes Medicare for All is the solution to Americans' health care woes.

First, Medicare would give all Americans "the high quality care we deserve, including primary and hospital care, dental, vision, reproductive, and mental health care."

Second, Barkan stressed, Medicare for All would drastically reduce costs, especially for people in need of care.

“We will no longer need to choose between paying the rent and filling a prescription,” he said. “It means we will no longer delay necessary care until it is tragically late and tragically expensive. It means that we won’t have to worry every year when our employer announces the new rates.”

Third, Barkan explained, Medicare for All would make our health care system vastly more efficient.

“Over the past three years, I have seen firsthand how the current system creates absurdly wasteful cost-shifting, delays, billing disputes, rationing and worry," he said. "Administrative waste is costing us hundreds of billions of dollars every year.”

Many agreed with him.

Barkan concluded his testimony with a plea:

"Our time on this Earth is the most precious resource we have. A Medicare for All system would save us all tremendous time. For doctors and nurses and providers, it would mean more time giving high-quality care. For patients and our families, it will mean less time dealing with a broken health care system and more time doing the things we love together."

After his speech, Barkan thanked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for the opportunity to share his story.

Barkan's gripping testimony spread like wildfire on social media.

People everywhere were moved.

Thank you, Ady.

More from News

Audra McDonald
@audramcdonald/Instagram

Audra McDonald Speaks Out After Autograph-Seeking Fan Followed Her Home—And People Are Horrified

Broadway legend and recent star of Gypsy Audra McDonald unfortunately finished the show's run on a sour note, as she informed fans on her Instagram.

The Tony-winning actor and singer, 55, started by explaining that the "stage door" practice, where Broadway actors exit through a side door of the theater to greet fans and sign autographs, is common but not expected or required. Some actors love to do it, others would rather not, and she stressed that there are countless reasons an actor might choose not to on any given night.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from Victor Nieves' videos
@notvictornieves/TikTok; @goodtrouble/TikTok

MAGA TikToker Gets Brutally Dragged After Tired 'Slippery Slope' Rant About Gay Marriage

The moment many LGBTQ+ people have warned about seems to be dawning as Kim Davis, the infamous Kentucky clerk who went to jail over refusing to process same-sex marriages, has resurfaced.

Now out of jail, Davis is asking the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v Hodges, the case that granted the right to same-sex marriage in 2015 and the violation of which landed Davis in jail.

Keep ReadingShow less
Riley Gaines
Ivan Apfel/Getty Images

Riley Gaines Blasted After Calling Trump Critics 'Domestic Terrorists' In Unhinged Tweet

Fading MAGA darling Riley Gaines found herself facing irrelevance like all the blond "it girls" before her that were once embraced then discarded by MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's followers, like Ann Coulter, Megyn Kelly, Kellyanne Conway, Tomi Lahren, and Kaitlin Bennett.

If that last name made you say, "Who‽," then you know what Gaines is facing.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jinkx Monsoon
Good Morning America/YouTube

Trans Actor Jinkx Monsoon Expertly Shades MAGA Lawmakers Who Are Trying To 'Rewrite History'

In a very timely off-the-cuff response, Broadway performer Jinkx Monsoon called out MAGA GOP lawmakers and Republican President Donald Trump for their attempts to whitewash history.

Speaking to Good Morning America about her star turn as the lead in Cole Escola’s Tony Award-winning hit Broadway show Oh, Mary!, the hosts proposed a rapid-fire game that they titled "Oh, Jinkx!."

Keep ReadingShow less
Person raising their hands in excitement
Photo by Zac Durant on Unsplash

People Who Turned Their Lives Around After Age 35 Share How They Did It

There's this weird pressure in the world to know what you're going to do with your life when you're between 18 and 20, work hard to get it, and then be satisfied with that for the rest of your life. But for many people, they're not in a position to attain their dream life when they're 20 years out.

That said, it's never too late to get a fresh start, even when you're around the middle of your life.

Keep ReadingShow less