My name is Holly Ayoob and with my husband, Paul, I own Maine Coast Roast, a coffee roastery in Biddeford.

But I’m not just a small-business owner. I’m also a mother and a cancer survivor. I’ve survived both cervical cancer and melanoma. Like countless other small-business owners, I’m also enrolled in the Affordable Care Act. It gives me peace of mind to have health coverage for preventative checkups and to know that my family and business would be all right if my cancer ever did come back.

That’s why I’m terrified by the lawsuit Texas v. Azar. Any day now the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will be ruling on the future of the Affordable Care Act. The ACA does not just make health insurance more affordable – it also prohibits insurance companies from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions. As someone who has survived cancer twice, without the protections in the ACA I would be uninsurable. So would the many Mainers who also have pre-existing conditions.

I was really proud back in 2017 when Susan Collins helped to save the Affordable Care Act. That’s why I was hurt when she cast a deciding vote for the Republican tax bill, which eliminated the individual mandate, the part of the ACA that courts have determined makes it constitutional. She also voted for two Supreme Court justices who are hostile to the ACA, and they will be ruling on its future. I no longer trust Susan Collins to protect our health care.

Holly Ayoob

Biddeford

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