Catharine Farkas: Emergency room is no substitute for quality, affordable care

To The Daily Sun,

Months into this pandemic, access to quality health care has never been more important. More than 180,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, and thousands more have been hospitalized or sidelined for weeks. I’m so thankful to the doctors and nurses who have been fighting on the front lines to save lives and keep people safe.

As the country continues to battle this public health crisis, the Trump administration is leading a lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act that would raise health care costs for everyone, strip protections for 572,000 Granite Staters with pre-existing conditions like asthma or cancer, and leave more than 100,000 without any health insurance. Corky Messner, the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate for U.S Senate, supports this lawsuit along with anything else President Trump says.

Despite the fact that the ACA provides coverage to millions of Americans, Messner thinks we should repeal it entirely. He has suggested, at campaign events, that if you don’t have health insurance, you should go to the emergency room for care. Does he know what an emergency room visit costs? Does he know what it feels like to receive a bill you can’t pay and to fall into medical debt? Does he realize the financial burden this places on hospitals and the taxpayers? And, does he realize that emergency rooms are no substitute for regular visits to a health care provider?

Messner will do whatever Trump tells him to do, even if that means voting to eliminate healthcare for thousands of Granite Staters. We need to reject Trump and Messner this fall.

This November, vote like your life depends on it — because with health care on the ballot, it does.

Catharine Farkas

Sanbornton