As a rule of thumb, I usually choose not to discuss religion or politics, as I find such topics to be less than appropriate for the bedroom, which is where I conduct the majority of my business. After all, as a legal sex worker at Dennis Hof’s Sagebrush Ranch near Reno, Nevada, I have clients from both ends of the political spectrum and everywhere in between. However, the proposed American Health Care Act is a situation that directly affects not only myself, but the other working ladies, staff, and clients that make up the legal Nevada brothel industry — and I’m compelled to share my opinion on it, as it reflects the feelings of the majority of working girls I’ve spoken with about this subject.
This week, the Congressional Budget Office released its analysis of the American Health Care Act, concluding that Trumpcare would increase the number of people without health insurance by 22 million by 2026. So when Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) opposed the bill, saying Trumpcare would strip coverage from “millions of Americans,” he unfortunately may have been accurate.
Hundreds of thousands of Nevadans will lose coverage if the Trumpcare bill passes, and even more will be significantly affected as a result of the legislation. This includes Nevada’s most unique demographic — the thousands of licensed working girls who ply their trade in the only state in the USA where prostitution is legal.
Here are just a few reasons, in the opinion of this harlot, why Trumpcare may negatively impact Nevada’s legal working girls, our clients, and the legal brothel industry as a whole.
Cuts to Medicaid could severely reduce a woman’s opportunity to thrive in our business
Every girl that becomes a legal prostitute doesn’t become financially comfortable overnight. I have been fortunate to amass a strong clientele and establish myself as a financially successful businesswoman within Nevada’s legal brothel industry, but that can take time. A young woman entering our business who in some cases may also be a single mother with limited financial means will also need time to build her customer base, and expanded access to Medicaid for her or her child may be the only way that she is able to know that they will be covered for health care until she can increase her income. Helping Americans to help themselves should be an important role of any government assistance program, and Trumpcare would deal a devastating blow to the ability of some to become self sustaining citizens.
Trumpcare will negatively impact our support team
While many of our customers may only see the beautiful faces of the legal prostitutes that I work with, there is actually a substantial workforce that labors behind the scenes to allow us to financially thrive. Cashiers, bartenders, housekeepers and drivers all work hard to provide the backbone of our business that earns our clients’ patronage. All of these employees are Nevada residents, guaranteed access to health care through the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate. If Obamacare were repealed, that mandate would be lifted, and these hard working parents and grandparents would lose access to coverage for themselves and their families. They are also, in some cases, among the 200,000 Nevadans who have benefitted from the Medicaid expansion that a repeal would faze out.
Trumpcare will take prostitution money away from our aging clients
Under the American Health Care Act, insurers will be able to charge older consumers five times more than younger consumers. People over the age of 65 make up a very large percentage of Nevada brothel clients. If these clients are forced to pay unfairly augmented health care costs, they will not have money on hand to spend on the things that make life worth living in the first place — like sex with a beautiful and talented working girl. That will in turn have a devastating effect on our entire industry, and negative impact on small businesses is the antithesis of what President Trump campaigned on.
Our job is to bring happiness, pleasure, and fulfillment to the gentleman (and ladies) we spend our time with. We give of ourselves not just physically, but mentally too. Many of us choose to dedicate ourselves to sex work, and plan to do this as a long term vocation. How are we supposed to do so without long term, trustworthy medical care? It is inevitable that all of us will experience at least one or more major medical emergencies. I believe that such an occurrence should not leave us, or our clients, bankrupt. This career allows us to make a bright future for ourselves, yet that could very well be tarnished with just a single medical disaster.
We can do better. As a country, I know we can do better than this. All Americans, including sex workers, should have access to professional medical care as a basic human right. It is my sincerest hope that this healthcare revision is either terminated completely, or revised in such a way that it continues to protect the Affordable Care Act. Everyone deserves quality medical coverage at a price that allows them the opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of being alive.
I have gathered like-minded Nevada sex workers and we’ve formed the “Hookers for Health Care” political action committee. Together we will continue to pressure Senator Dean Heller and other Republican leaders, and lobby for a healthier future for Nevada’s working girls and for women throughout the United States!
Pictured: Mikki Lynn, Roxanne Price, Chanel Lee, Tiara Tae, Alice Little, Leeana Love, and Ophelia
Photo of Capitol by Martin Falbisoner (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
