If a bill goes before Congress and you never told members how their actions will impact you, how confident are you that they will vote in your favor?

As two people living with Multiple Sclerosis, this isn’t a chance we’re willing to take.

This is why we continue to advocate for ourselves – plus the nearly 1 million other Americans who have MS – and the reason we encourage other people (like you!) to get involved.

There is no better time to connect with your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives than when they are back in their home districts during August recess. And through the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s advocacy efforts, we have two issues – one relating to accessible air travel and one to reform access to prescription drugs – to bring to their attention.

Join us for this episode of A Couple Takes on MS Podcast as we delve into the details of these issues, stress the importance of MS activism, and demonstrate how easy it is for you to get involved as an MS activist.

Action items we will take to our legislators after we schedule meetings with them or their in-district legislative aides are to:

• Address barriers to air travel accessibility by including provisions in the 2023 FAA Reauthorization that address access standards and the DOT’s complaints process for people with disabilities.
• Pass comprehensive pharmacy benefit manager reform this year that improves access to treatments that people need.

To help get you fired up about advocacy, we open the episode reading an excerpt from Jennifer’s Op Ed piece, Why Congress must pick up where the ADA got grounded with airline accessibility, that appeared in the Morning Sun newspaper.

Here are the links we reference for you to follow up on:

• Jennifer’s Op Ed: Airline accessibility is an equal rights issue – Read the full text of Jennifer’s Op Ed essay.

• Barriers to air travel accessibility fact sheet – Details about the importance of addressing this issue.

• Pharmacy Benefit Manager informational fact sheet – Background about why this legislation is needed

• Become an MS activist – Get specifics on how you can get involves with the National MS Society as an MS activist