First, Bonnie Mitchell used her savings. Then she took out a second mortgage on her Salt Lake City home. When that wasn’t enough, she began draining money out of her retirement account.
After the fender bender, doctors discovered that Mitchell has a rare genetic disease that causes joint dislocations and compounded her injuries. The 66-year-old former law professor rolled her wheelchair to a microphone stand outside of Sen. Orrin Hatch’s Utah office Monday morning to share that experience in voicing her opposition to the tax-reform bill he helped draft.
Mitchell’s fear is that the legislation would eliminate the medical-expense deduction, as well as the individual health-care mandate under Obamacare that requires most people to have insurance — which lowers premium costs for those like her with pre-existing conditions.