by Jackie Miller Open enrollment season is now upon us, and this year’s associated changes and confusion demonstrate Americans’ and lawmakers’ wide-ranging opinions on health care policy.

Perri Morgan, PhD, PA-C, is professor and the director of research in the Physician Assistant Division in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University Medical Center. She is a practicing PA, specializing in hypertension, and an educator of PAs at Duke. In 2013 she, along with about 900 others, were arrested for protesting at the North Carolina state capitol where they advocated for Medicaid expansion in the state.  We recently sat down with Perri to talk about the role of health professionals in political life.

by Igor Geyn

The Affordable Care Act is personal for me. As a young adult under the age of 26, ACA allows me to stay on my parents' insurance plan. Though I've been lucky to avoid costly medical treatment, the coverage has provided me with peace of mind and delivered thousands of dollars in savings.

I am not alone in a country of millions of similarly positioned young adults, individuals with conditions that would be labeled "pre-existing," and hardworking Americans for whom Medicaid coverage means not spending over half of their income on health insurance.