Mom Worries Son With Diabetes May Be Uninsurable Without Obamacare

NOVI, MI — A couple of years ago, Julius Barbieri was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The 6-year-old is on insulin and his mother worries that the proposed repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act by the Republican-controlled Congress could one day leave him without the medication he needs.

That’s why Amber Barbieri and her family traveled to Novi for U.S. Rep. Dave Trott’s public town hall at the Suburban Collection Showplace early Saturday morning. She stood for most of the hour-long question-and-answer session, wanting Trott to hear about Julius. Barbieri wondered why he listened to a man’s story about his son’s battle with lymphoma, but not hers.

“What he just did there was silencing a mother," Barbieri said. "He let the man speak, but he wouldn’t hear me. I’m not going to sit down. I will always show my son’s picture. This means life or death for us.”

More than 400 people attended the event and packed a conference room. Trott fielded written questions from the audience on a wide range of topics, from healthcare, military spending, and President Donald Trump’s proposed budget to funding for the Great Lakes Restoration project and Russia.

“I’m surprised that this is such a small venue,” Livonia resident Terry Cannon said moments before the start of the town hall. “It should have been a larger venue.”

Novi Mayor Bob Gatt randomly picked questions and read them to Trott. The Birmingham Republican did his best to answer questions, but often had to repeat his thoughts in an effort to speak over a loud, boisterous crowd. Trott promised to answer every written question posed to him.

“We’d like to hear where he stands on things,” said Carolyn Stuart, a Northville resident and a member of the town’s democratic club. “We haven’t heard anything about that. We’re really interested in hearing about where he stands on education, the Affordable Healthcare Act and the environment.”

Amber Barbieri was particularly focused on healthcare. After Julius’ diabetes diagnosis, he has had to deal with six to 10 “pokes” a day to check his blood sugar and a few more to take his insulin. She said her family currently has healthcare coverage, but fears things will change for Julius when gets older.

“There’s nothing on there regulating these insurance companies,” Barbieri said. “So, yeah, you’re not going to turn my son away, but you’re going to charge us an astronomical amount. We can’t afford that, we can’t burden our kids with that.”

Ultimately, she thinks Trott and Congress need to go back to the drawing board on healthcare. “I’d like to see the ACA repaired,” said Barbieri, “not terminated. Fix it. There’s too much invested in it. This is no time to go backward.”

A number of questions to Trott dealt with his allegiances to the president on various issues. He said he does not stand with Trump on slashing funding for cleanup of the Great Lakes.

“If that doesn’t change,” Trott said, “I won’t vote for the budget.”

He’s also not a fan of how the president has dealt with foreign policy. Trott said he would like Trump to stop using Twitter to express his views, among other things.

“I have concerns about Russia and the administration’s stance on Russia,” he said. “In my opinion, he has been very accommodating to Putin.”

Trott said he will push for a continued investigation of alleged Russian interference in last year’s elections. If those claims are substantiated, he believes there “should be consequences” including a quid pro quo of American cyber attacks against Russia.

As far as the wall that the president wants to build on the U.S. southern border with Mexico, Trott doesn’t believe it’s realistic. He said a wall could not be built in certain areas because of terrain and that the government trying to acquire the necessary land to build the wall would be tied up courts for “decades.”

“I think we have to secure our southern border,” Trott added, “but the wall is a bit of a gimmick in my opinion.”

Photos by Scott Daniel (Patch Staff)