In November, millions of voters in the red, blue and purple states voted directly on the ballot about the future of our health care. Senator Warnock ran a re-election campaign and had a runoff vote on healthcare. Healthcare won decisively.
Voters have decided to expand Medicaid in South Dakota. This means more than 40,000 low-income South Dakotans will now have the health care they could have had years ago. More than 17 million Americans have access to health insurance as a result of the expansion of Medicaid, part of the Affordable Care Act, which became optional as a result of a 2012 Supreme Court ruling. Health care wins every time Medicaid expands health care votes.
In Arizona, voters overwhelmingly approved the Predatory Debt Collection Act, Proposition 209, with a whopping 72% approval. The measure will protect Arizonans from predatory debt collection involving families suffering from medical debt.
Voters in as many states as Michigan, Vermont, California, Kentucky, and Montana supported abortion rights. In Michigan, Vermont, and California, voters approved ballot measures to include abortion rights in their constitutions. In Kentucky and Montana, voters rejected initiatives to limit access to reproductive health care.
And in Oregon, Bill 111 was passed. Oregon voters have made Oregon the first state in the United States to guarantee affordable healthcare as a constitutional right. Now the state legislature needs to make this happen.
Healthcare is being voted on nationwide and the results are clear. Americans want affordable and accessible health care.
This issue is personal to me. Because I’ve been on the front lines fighting for my health care and the health care of her 135 million Americans with pre-existing conditions like mine. I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer in 2017. A day after my first chemotherapy treatment, Republicans in the US House of Representatives voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act (insurance that pays for the treatment I need to survive). But healthcare voters fought to keep the Affordable Care Act from being repealed by Congress and the president. we won.
And in the last few years, health care voters have finally seen progress from Congress. With America’s Rescue Plan making health insurance more affordable than ever, the Inflation Reduction Act lowering the cost of prescription drugs for seniors, and Medicare finally being able to negotiate drugs. price. But these interests are already under attack.
Whether they vote for expanding health insurance through Medicaid, protecting families from medical debt, defending reproductive liberty rights, or ensuring health care as a human right, Americans are showing up and prioritizing. We made it clear. Healthcare is a winning issue regardless of the state or political party of the voter.
Voters in states such as South Dakota also showed their legislatures overwhelmingly blocking popular bills. It’s time for her remaining 11 state representatives to do their job and represent the interests of their voters by finally expanding Medicaid so that even low-income Americans can get health care.
It’s also time for Congress to step in and work to extend low drug prices to everyone. We do not threaten to deprive you of the benefits of affordable prescription drugs obtained through the Inflation Reduction Act.
Again, remember that the majority of Americans support affordable, legal and accessible access to abortion. Abortion is health care. We must continue to defend reproductive freedom and show elected officials that their restrictions on our bodies are unjust and unwelcome.
Our battle for affordable and accessible healthcare continues. From tackling the cost of prescription drugs for the rest of us who don’t have Medicare to lowering health insurance premiums to make sure everyone has access to care, there’s a lot to do.
Voters want health care. Listen, elected officials.
This commentary was first published in Common Dreams.
