I write to support Sen. Stan Gerzovsky for re-election in District 10 (Brunswick, Harpswell, Freeport, Pownal). He is a knowledgeable, effective leader who cares about people and real human needs. I know this from personal experience.

Five years ago, when one of my children became seriously ill and had to leave college, I discovered that, had she been 19 and not 18, our health insurance company would have cancelled her coverage. The law at the time stipulated that they were required to carry coverage only for full-time students. Once a child became too sick to stay at school and thus were no longer enrolled, coverage could be cancelled.

I approached Stan, who was my state representative at the time, to see if something could be done to close this loophole. A little research showed that several states had raised the age to 23 for children to be covered under their parents’ policies, with no bias regarding their enrollment status. We found that most insurance companies supported it, because most 19- to 23-year-olds are healthy.

Stan got me an audience with the chairs of two committees that might be able to address the problem through legislation. Working with legislators on both sides of the aisle, Stan got legislation passed to close the loophole. The following year, the age was raised to 26. Three years later, 26 became the law nationwide.

Compassionate leadership like this doesn’t come around every day. Let’s keep Stan in Augusta, working for the people.

Peter Simmons
Brunswick