To the editor:

My mother was diagnosed with ALS in October 2015. She can now walk very short distances with a walker, can only speak a couple of sentences at a time, gets 95 percent of her food through a tube, and needs help 24/7. 

This has been life-changing for our entire family, but in some respects, we are lucky: Mom became eligible for Medicare nine months before her diagnosis. Medicare covers daily nurse and health aide visits, all her medication, and much of her equipment is covered by Medicare or the ACA expansion for home-based disability services. Everything else we need has come through the kindness and generosity of our family, friends, or the ALS Association.

Medicare is a lifesaver for many families, including ours, and the ACA has been relatively successful in Rhode Island. However, the ACA is not working everywhere and small businesses struggle to compete in providing benefits to their employees. Medical bills are still the number one cause of bankruptcies in our country. The ACA repeal has been delayed for now, but our system is far from perfect and needs to be ​fixed so we can move forward.

Polls show the majority of Americans agree we need a national​, ​single-payer health insurance system,​ and the way to start making it a reality is for states to start passing single-payer legislation one by one. Rhode Island has single-payer legislation — S.154 and H.5069 — and it's time our representatives hear from us about it.​ ​ ​Please visit www.singlepayerri.org for more information on how to support the cause.

Daniela Abbott

52 Ladeira Ave.

Portsmouth