Please PLEASE keep me anonymous!!

I will make $22,800 this year after taxes. That is it. I am a 30 year old married congressional staffer with a 20 month old son who depends on my job for his health insurance. My husband has to pay for his own health care through his salary, and it would cost him over $1000 a month to cover the whole family. I just started in this position 6 months ago, after being out of work for a year and staying at home with my baby. I need my health insurance, and I cannot afford to pay $600 a month for coverage. Without this so called “subsidy” (the same “subsidy” congressional staffers have been receiving for years before the ACA) both myself and my son will be uninsured. With our combined salaries, my husband and I will not qualify for subsidies via the ACA, so we would have to pay for it all out of pocket.

I am not “entitled.” I am not a leech. I work. I pay bills. And my husband and I are trying to raise our son as well as possible. I lead a simple, middle class lifestyle. I am not riding high on the hog in any capacity. And neither are any of my co-workers. So I don’t know why we are being targeted. The congressperson I work for is married to a doctor, so they are set. They can pay for their health insurance without a “subsidy.” I can’t afford to. If I cannot receive the same assistance from my employer as the majority of Americans who get healthcare through their employer, I will be priced out of health care …

Sincerely,

an ANONYMOUS congressional staffer who is tired of being a political punching bag…