1. United States
2. Mo.
3. Letter

My husband is an essential federal employee. He works for the DOD as a data analyst, a position thay compared to private sector workers pays significantly less. He chose this job because he wants to give back to his country. The stability was a plus when two of our three children were diagnosed with brain conditions require surgery and chronic illness in its wake. Each year we have watched as even us with a 'good civvie job' had the best insurance become unaffordable. In the course of a few years an ER visit copay went from $150-$350. We've crimped, saved and managed to stay afloat in spite of our grocery bill also inflating. But that is without a savings pad, two paid off cars with over 100k & a tiny grocery budget. We wiped out our car fund this past week to cover his lost pay but have no additional savings. This shutdown is killing us. Please don't respond to the pain I am voicing in this email with another canned response about how this is the democrats fault. At the end of the day the market has stabilized around ACAs their loss will only prove to increase all of our costs again. But this week? My family needs to eat. I need to put gas in cars for my kids appointments. I need to pay for tutoring for my dyslexic kid who hasn't ever gotten reading assistance in school. I need to keep my money circulating in my community and I need my husband to be paid for the work he is doing. Please get back to work and COMPROMISE. Create unity not division. Help heal our nation and keep my family safe.