Why did retired teacher Roberta Rebb die the Sunday before Christmas?
Roberta Rebb was a genuinely good person and an excellent teacher who had taken early retirement for health reasons. Most people ask how old she was or what disease she died from. It is most important in Roberta’s life to ask why she died on the Sunday before Christmas.
I blogged one of my friend Roberta’s emails to me with her permission while withholding her name at her request. It seems reasonable now to re-post her email and my blog to allow us all to see what the assault against retired teachers, and so many other victims of political crimes, have caused or worsened. Roberta simply tells the truth about what she was subjected to.
(Friends and fellow bloggers have filled in even more details about Roberta. From Fred Klonsky. From Glen Brown with a comment by John Dillon.)
Below is Roberta’s email and my commentary from October 25, 2015. You decide why Roberta died specifically on the Sunday before Christmas.
Dear Friends,I just wanted you all to know how [IL Gov. Bruce] Rauner’s unconstitutional act of not providing a signed budget has affected me at my most vulnerable. As you all know, my cancer returned this past summer and I am forced to undergo more chemotherapy which is an exhausting ordeal. I was informed this week that my doctor could no longer treat me, despite my paying my premiums and Cigna approving 100% payment the State of Illinois could no longer make payments and has informed my doctor’s office that it would take over a year to process his invoices. I will now have to drive 37 miles one way for treatment at Rush University which is still accepting my insurance. With winter approaching and the exhaustion following the treatments, I will have to once again impose on friends or The American Cancer Society to get me to Chicago and back home again.Something needs to be done about a governor holding the legislature and its citizens hostage so that he can destroy collective bargaining rights and tromp on workers’ rights. I thank you all for your continued advocacy and willingness to fight for those of us who cannot do so.With gratitude,
(Name withheld by request) [Roberta Rebb]
Because of a political power battle between Gov. Rauner (R) and 30+ year Speaker of the House Madigan (D), the state is not paying its bills and has no signed budget. The Why did retired teacher Roberta Rebb die the Sunday before Christmas? | Reclaim Reform:
