CHOICES saved my life.
I've been reading all of the negative letters and commentary about CHOICES, the county's insurance for the working poor, and I realized that what is missing from the dialogue is the voices of the people that have benefited from the program.
I attended UF 22 years ago and moved west for journalism jobs. Two years ago, I moved back to the area and took a full-time job teaching high school.
One of the reasons I moved back to Gainesville was for the renowned medical research going on at UF.
In 2002, I was diagnosed with Graves' disease, which is a chronic thyroid immune malfunction. In my case, I started losing weight so rapidly that during a weekend I would drop up to 10 of my 120 pounds even though I ate three square meals a day.
I tried treatment with doses of a thyroid inhibitor, but it continued to triple in size, block my airway and accelerate my metabolism.
I didn't sleep for more than three or four hours a night for many years.
So I decided to take a part-time teaching job last year to give my body rest and, in doing so, qualified for CHOICES as my husband had been unemployed since we moved here, and our income was less than $24,000.
I wiped out my retirement fund in these past two years to pay the bills.
I have worked a minimum of two jobs since I turned 16 and have never received public assistance before, not even unemployment benefits.
Through CHOICES, I received treatment from the nation's top endocrinologists and ear, nose and throat surgeons.
As nodules began forming on my thyroid and biopsies became a norm, I decided to have the gland completely removed to avoid the "big C."
As an indirect outcome of what CHOICES did for me, my husband was able to attend Florida School of Massage and received his license to practice in April.
I have graduated from the CHOICES program and now receive my current medical benefits from UF's GatorGradCare program while working as a teaching assistant.
While CHOICES did not pay for my husband to go through his training program directly, it allowed me to pay the mortgage and living expenses while he could not find work.
Not having a health insurance bill each month transferred to his ability to be a full-time student for six months and receive job skills and training.
A very heartfelt "Thank you" goes to CHOICES.
And to the complaining taxpayers: Saving my life may not be worth the $40 million sitting in the CHOICES account, but my friends, family and 1,500 former students disagree.
And remember that this Alachua County resident who has no children of her own gladly pays property taxes that help support local programs, including schools and the education of other people's children.
CHOICES does have its flaws and the program could be a success if the enrollment process were restructured and the outreach connected with recipients who don't seem to know how to take advantage of this gift.
Perhaps instead of gleaning revenue for CHOICES from general sales taxes, we could increase the tax on cigarettes to help fund it.
In this university town full of the world's greatest minds, I'm sure a solution to the CHOICES dilemma is just a brainstorm meeting away from discovery.
Suzette Cook is a graduate student in the College of Journalism and Communications, 1990 graduate of UF and former photo editor of the Alligator.
