A Newtown woman will be the guest of 5th District Congresswoman Jahana Hayes tonight at the State of the Union. Bridget Sclafani lost her husband to brain cancer in 2018. Hayes says she was moved by the woman's story at a town hall event in Newtown last month.
Sclafani started a foundation in honor of her husband, Paul, in order to help other families batting cancer and facing challenges with their insurance companies. She told Hayes about the fight with insurance companies, which denied services for his treatment and care.
Hayes said she hopes the president discusses how to help families deal with health care costs.
Hayes said in a statement that "Bridget’s strength and generosity to honor Paul’s legacy by helping others, is an inspiration to us all. We must do more to ensure families like Bridget’s can focus on their treatment without having to worry about the costs.”
A Weston man will be the guest of Senator Richard Blumenthal tonight at the State of the Union. Christopher Reeb is the uncle of Marine Staff Sergeant Tyler Reeb, a decorated Marine Corps sniper who grew up in New Canaan.
Tyler took his own life in October following multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, including leading more than 100 combat missions against the Taliban.
Last week, the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee approved Blumenthal-authored legislation to that would improve the operation, oversight, and evaluation of the VA’s suicide prevention outreach campaigns. It adopts several recommendations from the Government Accountability Office, and creates a process to oversee VA’s suicide prevention campaigns.
Blumenthal said in a statement “Tyler Reeb was an American combat hero whose death was caused by the invisible wounds of war, like 6,000 veterans who die by suicide every year. He was a father, son, brother, friend, and I am honored that his uncle Chris Reeb will represent his family as my guest at the State of the Union."
4th District Congressman Jim Himes will be joined at the State of the Union Address tonight by Connecticut native Gary Mendell, founder and CEO of Shatterproof. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to reversing the addiction crisis by transforming addiction treatment, shattering stigma of addiction, advocating for federal and state policy change and payer reform, and supporting and educating the community.
Mendell lost his son in 2011 after a years-long struggle with a substance use disorder. He called addiction a public health crisis that will impact generations to come.
While overdose deaths may have plateaued for the first time in 28 years, the number of annual overdose deaths is still more than three times what it was just 20 years ago.
