File:Krisja Hendricks on Health Insurance Reform (4008903409).jpg

This afternoon, Speaker Pelosi and Reps. Chris Van Hollen and Kathy Dahlkemper joined a coalition of 20 youth organizations from 30 states to announce a key provision impacting young adults in health insurance reform legislation. Krisja Hendricks from New York spoke at the press conference.

Krisja was a senior in college when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. She was still covered by her dad’s insurance plan and received excellent and prompt medical attention, surgery and therapy. Two months after she graduated however, she was kicked off the plan. She applied to numerous insurance companies and, time after time, was denied coverage because she’d had cancer. Krisja says, “Essentially because I needed insurance, I was not eligible for it.”