My Letter to Sen. Todd Young

What with the House of Representatives having passed the so-called "American Health Care Act," I reached out to Senator Todd Young who ostensibly represents me in the United States Senate. Here is the text:

Sen. Young,

I am writing to you to refrain from voting for the American Healthcare Act until you find out how it will affect my family. I am the sole provider for a wife and two kids. I work as a lawyer and carry approximately $XXXXXX (a scarily large number) in student loan debt from law school. I am gainfully employed in Indianapolis and earn nearly XXXXXXXX per year. Nonetheless, my firm is small and does not provide health insurance for my wife and two young kids (4-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter). The premiums for my health insurance are nearly what my mortgage costs (as is the monthly payment on my student loans). I am earnestly trying to provide a better future for my family, working no fewer than 60 hours/week. If my health insurance costs go up, or if my family faces a serious illness, I will be facing bankruptcy.

You represent my interests in congress every bit as much as you represent IU Health, Eli Lilly, Anthem, and Stryker (to name a few IN healthcare corporations). There are literally hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers in my position. Please, before you vote for the AHCA, consider its consequences. If you believe, objectively and based on the evidence, that the AHCA will materially improve the lives of your constituents (the human ones, if not the corporate ones), then please vote yes. If you do not so believe and instead would rely on materially dishonest talking points to explain the vote, I beseech you to vote no. 

Sincerely,

NOTE: my modest midwest roots preclude me from publicizing actual figures regarding my income and debt load. I provided such figures to Sen. Young so that he could make an informed decision on the impact of his vote on my life (if he actually cares), but I will not publicize those numbers here.

ALSO: my firm does make insurance available for my wife and children, however I have to pay the full premium, which would be double what a "silver" plan costs on healthcare.gov.

"Tabletop Joe"