A Toccoa woman who says she and her family have struggled financially since the Affordable Care Act was implemented will attend President Donald Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.
Congressman Doug Collins, R-Gainesville, invited Brittany Ivey to be his guest for the evening speech and to share her story during the day.
"but also, talking with some folks about how Obamacare impacted her family and how they lost their employer insurance because of it and how she's sort of struggled since then," Collins said.
Prior to the ACA, Ivey had received her family's insurance through her employer, working part-time. Increased premiums drove the family into the individual market, where a mid-level plan cost 65 percent of her gross monthly income, according to Collins' office.
"One of the things that was not contemplated, I think, by the previous administration was the impact on the folks who got the insurance through their work and the incredible price increases that came through the mandates," Collins said.
In a media statement from Collins' office, Ivey said she's been driven back into full-time work when she really wanted to be a stay-at-home mom.
"My husband and I have been punished for working hard, driven to the edge of financial disaster as we paid thousands and thousands of dollars in premiums for a federal plan that our doctors rejected. Even though we're healthy, this law has crippled our family," Ivey said.
Ivey received the Congressman's only guest ticket for the president's address. The speech is scheduled to begin at 9:00 p.m. Tuesday.
