Dr. Tom Sherman
Your health allows you to work in a good paying job, spend time with your loved ones and enjoy your well-earned retirement.
But now, the Trump administration in Congress and Republicans are putting health care at risk that allows it to fund tax cuts for the wealthy.
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They are threatening to cut down programs, such as Medicare and Social Security, which many Americans have worked to pay for for decades.
Literally, it will cost your money and give it to the billionaire. Imagine your world where you or your loved ones need it, you don't have access to medical care.
Imagine more if you had to pay the full cost of that care whenever you access it. As a doctor, I don't need all the research done to know that people without health insurance are generally ill and die faster than those with insurance.
Due to the current costs of medical and prescription drugs, people often go without seeing doctors, and when they do, they cannot afford the prescribed medication. They come and go to hospitals, emergency rooms, declare bankruptcy, lose their jobs, and eventually even lose their homes.
Knowing how healthcare compensation could change people's lives, I fought hard as a representative of New Hampshire for the expansion of Medicaid. And now, Republicans in Congress are threatening to take it.
For our oldest, youngest (and most vulnerable) granite statistical statistics, Medicaid is the biggest goal of a Republican Congress wanting tax credits for businesses and wealthy people. Standard Medicaid covers children in low-income families, pregnant women, infants and their mothers, as well as elderly people who cannot afford nursing home care.
In New Hampshire, Medicaid expansion covers the poorest of all ages in between. Almost everyone works, but still earns a low salary of $15,000 a year, not enough to raise food, shelters and families.
And Medicaid's expansion covers the costs of mental health and substance use treatments for more than 40,000 New Hampshire residents.
The Trump administration has also put our honorable veteran health care at risk by cutting the Bureau of Veterans Affairs with more than 80,000 workers. I trained at the John Cochran VA in St. Louis and I know very well what happens to veterans if I pull that healthcare from under them.
For granite stals with commercial insurance, either privately or through employers, the Trump administration and Republican Congress have vowed to repeal many of the Affordable Care Act, including protections that require protections that guarantee those with existing illnesses.
Access to healthcare, along with housing, education and work, is one of the key pillars of successful American life. President Trump and his Republican Congress are threatening to take you away. Don't make a mistake about that, these cuts are not about reducing our national debt or dealing with the federal deficit, but the only way that a Republican majority in Congress can achieve the cuts needed to fund tax credits for the wealthy.
While we all go through our wallets and pay that tax payment, many will pay for their health and their lives. Stand up and listen before dealing any damage. Family, friends and neighbors are injured.
Former NH Senator, Dr. Tom Sherman;
And the governor candidate,
Rye, New Hampshire
