It’s been a busy few weeks here in Washington – and I’ve been fighting from the time I wake up in the morning to the moment my head hits the pillow. But I did take a little time in between snowstorms in Massachusetts this weekend to bake my heart-shaped cake. My mother was born on February 14, and she loved her special connection to Valentine’s Day. I still have a stack of valentines that my daddy gave her, back when they were teenage sweethearts. When I was a little girl, I bought some heart-shaped pans at the dime store. Every year, I baked her a birthday cake. Decades later, when my mother was 83, seemingly strong and healthy, she needed to have some minor surgery – and everything went fine. The teenage nieces and nephews took her on wheelchair races down the hallways, and we all laughed and had juice and cookies. We went home that evening expecting her to …show more content…
No longer considered just a “man’s disease,” doctors do a much better job screening and treating women for cardiovascular disease than they did when my mother had her heart attack. But let’s be clear: We cannot stop heart disease in women if we don’t have regular access to quality, affordable healthcare. That’s why I’m fighting – with all my heart – to stop Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The Affordable Care Act gives women (and men) access to free annual wellness exams to detect and monitor heart disease. It allows heart attack survivors and others diagnosed with a heart condition to get insurance despite their pre-existing condition. It prevents insurance companies from charging people different premiums based on their health status, or charging women more for their insurance than men. It removes the lifetime coverage caps for people with serious or chronic illnesses. And it has expanded Medicaid access in Massachusetts and across the country so millions of people can get the care they need to stay