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 “Ring. Ting. Ting.” The alarm confirms it: 2:45 a.m. I am already awake, anxiously anticipating the days ahead. I move quietly so as not to wake my sleeping wife or Jesse, our Blue Heeler pup, who will spend nearly three confused, aimless days waiting for my return. Leaving him weighs on me, but my course is set. I begin the journey to Washington, D.C. As the airport gradually fills with other sleep-deprived travelers, I pass through security with the calm focus that comes only from repetition. Travel, even when seamless, extracts a cost. By the time I arrive in Washington, fatigue has already begun to settle into my bones. Catching a glimpse of the cherry blossoms as I leave the airport is always a moment of quiet beauty, though never one I have enough time to fully absorb. An early hotel checkin grants me the rare luxury of a short, deeply appreciated power nap—less indulgence than necessity. Friends and fellow Multiple Sclerosis advocates soon arrive for the opening session of the 2026 National MS Society Public Policy Conference. Having participated in 2023 and 2025, it is both an honor and cherish responsibility to once again represent Michigan. The Society’s leadership opens the conference with clarity and purpose, grounding us in both the urgency of the work and the privilege of being entrusted with lived experience. Their message is simple and profound: policy shapes lives. The room reflects the breadth and determination of the MS community. Beside me sits Allie McGuire, a brilliant Michigan advocate and cofounder of AwareNow Media, whose leadership consistently elevates voices too often unheard. Nearby are Mark and Everett—a father and son experiencing their first Public Policy Conference together. Their partnership is striking, marked by open conversation, mutual support, and a shared commitment that embodies what advocacy at its best can look like. Monday is devoted to preparation. We study and discuss the two policy priorities that will guide every meeting: fully funding the Department of Defense Multiple Sclerosis Research Program (MSRP) and protecting access to affordable, comprehensive healthcare. MSRP funding is far from abstract. Service members are significantly more likely to develop MS than civilians, and more than 70,000 U.S. veterans live with the disease. Research supported through MSRP has already delivered meaningful breakthroughs—from early diagnostic blood tests to clinical trials addressing fatigue, cognition, and mobility. Fully funding MSRP at $22 million ensures these advances continue, benefiting veterans and civilians alike. Advocating for increased MSRP funding has been a priority every year I have attended this conference. Equally urgent is healthcare affordability. The average annual cost of living with MS in the United States approaches $90,000, driven largely by medical care and prescription therapies. For many, barriers such as prior authorization requirements, step therapy, and high deductibles delay or deny care altogether. Protecting patient-centered insurance coverage means ensuring people with MS can access neurologists, diagnostics, diseasemodifying therapies, and holistic care without being forced into financial instability. This policy priority not only serves the MS community—it affects everyone navigating the American healthcare system. Tuesday—Hill Day—brings these priorities into sharp focus. Our Michigan delegation meets with staff from the offices of Senator Elissa Slotkin, Senator Gary Peters, and Representatives Jack Bergman and Tom Barrett. Each meeting weaves personal stories together with evidencebased policy requests, reinforcing the truth that legislative decisions ripple outward into real lives.  Navigating between Senate and House office buildings is a formidable task for a group managing limited energy. Still, 175 MS advocates, clad in orange, attend several hundred meetings each year. We move from one Senate building to another, then through underground tunnels to the House side of the Capitol, constantly evaluating energy levels and physical limits. I am always astonished, not by the difficulty, but by our collective ability to persevere and show up fully. Each meeting unfolds as a carefully planned yet unrehearsed choreography of storytelling and policy explanation. Midway through conversations, I find myself marveling at the seamless collaboration among advocates. Every office listens. Every staffer accepts our leavebehind materials. And every meeting affirms that our presence matters—that these conversations equip them with the stories and context needed to inform future policy discussions. Their repeated validation provides an unexpected but powerful boost as our energy wanes. By evening, we are back at the hotel, gathering bags and heading toward the airport once again. In the early hours of the morning, after calming an overjoyed Blue Heeler and finally settling into bed at 2 a.m., I reflect on the exhaustion and the fulfillment. Advocacy is not easy, but it is necessary. Another year. Another Hill Day. Another affirmation that when we raise our voices together, we move closer to a future where MS no longer dictates the limits of anyone’s life. With the National MS Society, we say it plainly and with purpose: “MS ends with us.” ∎
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