Congressional candidate for the 18th District

To the Editor:

There is good news after all. George Petrilli will run for Congress from our 18th District in Illinois. George Petrilli understands the people of our district. For example, in Logan County we need comprehensive health insurance at a reasonable cost. We do not need inferior insurance plans that fail to cover our particular conditions. We had good health care options under the Affordable Care Act but early in the Trump presidency, a Republican Congress gave some insurance companies the power to offer cheap, inferior health insurance policies, policies that fail to cover pre-existing conditions. This has caused many of us with pre-existing conditions either (1) to "run bare" and not insure against a claim involving their pre-existing conditions, or 2 ) to purchase a more expensive "high risk pool" policy.

Our current congressman, Rep. Darin LaHood, has consistently voted to deny those of us with pre-existing conditions an opportunity to buy health insurance at the same rate as those without such conditions. In Mr. LaHood’s world, if I have ever suffered from a given disease, e.g., diabetes, I now should expect to be charged a higher premium if I want health insurance that covers problems associated with my medical history. The idea is simple: charge sicker people more.

In the wake of President Trump’s and Darin LaHood’s attack on the Affordable Care Act, it is not surprising to find that many Americans have chosen to forego coverage on their pre-existing conditions. Neither is it a surprise that many of those who are "running bare" will end up facing huge medical bills resulting in personal bankruptcy.

Darin LaHood voted for the "American Health Care Act.” Had the proposal not been blocked in the Senate by the late Sen. John McCain, our problems would have multiplied. Health care experts from across the political spectrum – liberal, moderate, and conservative – agreed that the bill was unworkable and suffered from fatal flaws.

Wikipedia says that the proposal that LaHood supported was "almost certain" to reduce overall health care coverage and increase deductibles. It included language to phase out Medicaid expansion.

The tax credits in the American Health Care Act would have been insufficient to pay for individual insurance, and could have led to Americans dropping out of the health care market. The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) noted that the bill's elimination of the community rating provision (barring insurance companies from charging older people more than three times what they charge younger people) would have increased cost disparities between age groups and would have increased premiums for Americans more prone to illness. The dropping of healthy people from the health insurance market could have led to insurer "death spirals" that would have decreased choice. Moreover, the phaseout of the Medicaid expansion would have been likely to result in a loss of healthcare for millions of poorer Americans. Most importantly, the bill that Darin LaHood supported would have denied us in Logan County affordable and comprehensive health care.

Darin LaHood does not seem to recognize the goal of our current Affordable Care Act: reasonably priced health insurance for all. Instead Rep. LaHood advocates cheap, inferior insurance products that fail to cover illnesses related to pre-existing conditions. Candidate for Congress George Petrilli will explain all this when he joins the Logan County Democrats in the Big Shelter, which is located almost a mile inside Lincoln’s Kickapoo Creek Park at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 16. All are welcome to attend.

Gary Davis
Lincoln, IL

[Posted July 11, 2020]