Ivey Calls White House Visit “Humbling”

Toccoa resident Brittany Ivey said it was a honor to meet with President Donald Trump at the White House.

Ivey was in Washington, D.C. Monday at the invitation of the White House, along with a group of Americans, to talk about their experiences with the Affordable Care Act.

This started last month when Ivey was the guest of 9th District U.S. Representative Doug Collins for the President’s joint speech to Congress.

Collins invited Ivey because of the challenges she and her family faced with health care after the passage of the Affordable Care Act.

Ivey said following the joint address, Collins’ office asked her if they could forward her information and her story to the White House.

“I said ‘sure’, but I never in a million years expected the White House tocall,” said Ivey. “I did not tell anybody but my husband, so when I got a call that said ‘This is so and so from the White House,’ I honestly thought he had put somebody up to doing that, but it was the White House.”

She said the White House interviewed her and called her back last Thursday, asking her to talk to the President.

Ivey flew up Monday and met with the President in the Roosevelt Room in the West Wing of the White House.

She said it was a humbling experience to sit next to President Trump and speak with him.

“I cannot even describe, it was such a neat experience,” said Ivey. “I was really nervous waiting on him to come in, but when he came in, he was so friendly and he was so down to earth and did not talk down to anybody and did not talk over us. He seemed like he was genuinely interested in our stories and trying to help us.”

Ivey said she was honored to share her story regarding health care.

According to Ivey, her premiums under a mid-level plan through the Affordable Care Act took 65 percent of her monthly gross income after a federal subsidy and the plan was not accepted by her doctors.

She said she hopes that her experiences and the stories of the others that were there with her can be part of the conversation moving forward about making changes to health care law, adding that she knows all sides need to be part of the conversation.

Overall, Ivey said the President was very nice and down to earth to them during and after the meeting.

She said her trip included an unexpected visit to the Oval Office.

According to Ivey, his staff had said there would not be time for a visit to the Oval Office, but Trump told his staff that he wanted them to go in since they had given up their time to meet with him.

“It is so neat to be in there,” said Ivey. “The desk is a lot bigger than it looks in the pictures.”

Ivey also met with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price during her visit.