We need Medicare for All
As I look back on my first month on the campaign trail and begin my second, I can’t help but think about all the amazing people I have met from all different backgrounds and the many issues that I have learned you care about. One issue I keep hearing about, whether you live in a city or a suburb, is health care.
This is an issue that is incredibly personal for me as well. My grandmother passed away one year ago after a long battle with dementia. My family cared for her at home for the last years of her life as her health declined. We fought to get her the care she needed and the dignity of end of life care. As an educator, I have watched as students relied on the emergency rooms or the school nurses as their primary care physicians and lacked necessary preventative care. Many people have shared their concerns about the future of our health care system with me.
There are many great things that came out of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) like coverage for pre-existing conditions, young people being able to stay on their parent’s insurance until age 26 and coverage for women’s health care and contraception. The ACA has done a great job of driving down the number of uninsured people but it has not done a good enough job when it comes to making health care more affordable for everyone.
We should not have to choose between the health of our family members and paying the rent. Seniors should not choose between their prescription drugs and their groceries for the week. We can do better.
As your Congresswoman, I will stand up for the belief that health care is a right and not a privilege.
As your Congresswoman, I will support legislation to create Medicare for All to ensure each and every person in the Fifth District has access to quality and affordable care.
As your Congresswoman, I will champion legislation that allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices directly with drug companies and support the importation of drugs from countries like Canada to save you money at the pharmacy.
As your Congresswoman, I will tirelessly fight to expand mental health and addiction treatment so we can combat Connecticut’s deadly opioid epidemic.
And as your Congresswoman, I will always protect a woman’s right to choose and support fully funding women’s health care providers like Planned Parenthood.
I believe that we have an obligation to each other to do better for not only our own families but all families. By ensuring that everyone has equal access to quality and affordable health care, that single moms can focus on going back to get her degree, or that students can focus on passing their exams, that grandparents can enjoy time with their grandchildren, that small business owners can focus on growing their company, not worry about that high deductible plan and we as a community, as state and as a country are better off.
