Fighting for me

Context matters with the national fights for health care.

This past weekend, over 7 million people around the country held peaceful protests against the current administration, including a protest at the Wyandot County Courthouse in Upper Sandusky.

Unlike the talking points you may have heard on social media, the people there didn’t hate America. They weren’t funded by billionaire George Soros. They weren’t Hamas supporters and they certainly weren’t terrorists.

They were regular people like you and me and they were standing up against some of the more authoritarian tendencies of our current administration — things like the decision to send the U.S. military into cities against the wishes of the mayors of those cities or the governors of those states.

To put in into perspective, would you be happy if Gov. Mike DeWine and Mayor Kyle McColly told President Donald Trump that they did not want the military sent to Upper Sandusky to back up an ICE raid at one of our factories and instead Trump activated National Guard members from New York and sent them here anyway?

I don’t think you would like that one bit.

The same goes for the current government shutdown, which recently entered its 20th day and shows no signs of ending anytime soon.

Why is the government shut down? You may have heard that the Democrats are demanding health care for illegal aliens. I can promise you that’s not the case because I know exactly who they’re fighting for right now.

They’re fighting for me.

The government is shut down because one of the ways Congress was able to help pay for extending all the tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that was passed earlier this year was by removing the premium tax credit from people who rely on the Affordable Care Act to get their annual health insurance.

I’m one of those people.

It’s cheaper for me to go through the Healthcare.gov website each November and pick out a health insurance plan than it is to get health insurance through my work.

When I fill out all that information (which requires Social Security numbers, tax returns, proof of residency, etc., so you can’t do it if you aren’t a U.S. citizen), based on my income and the number of people in my household that I’m responsible for, the government then issues me a “premium tax credit,” which can be used to help pay for my monthly health insurance premiums.

According to Healthcare.gov, i was eligible for up to $400 a month in premium tax credits to be used for my monthly health insurance premiums. I chose a silver plan with United Healthcare that was about $535 per month. So with the help of that tax credit, I only have to pay about $135 per month to get decent health insurance.

And while I’m overweight, I’m also one of those people health insurance companies rely on, someone who hasn’t been to the hospital in 30 years, hasn’t needed surgery and doesn’t get seriously ill. I don’t require prescription assistance. I don’t take any medication. I don’t use my health insurance, but I still pay premiums so I’m helping keep your insurance costs down.

But those premium tax credits expire at the end of October and I’m supposed to pick out my next health insurance plan in November. Unfortunately, I’m one of the 20 million American citizens who is going to have to go uninsured in 2026 unless our representatives in the government can get off their asses and come to an agreement.

Having just turned 40, I’m reaching an age where I’m going to start needing annual check-ups with my doctor, but that’s just not going to be able to happen if my health insurance costs increase by 400%.

Me choosing to go uninsured will have a ripple effect as well. If people like me who don’t typically use their health insurance choose to take the risk and go uninsured in 2026, our premiums no longer are being added to the total pool of health insurance premiums.

The for-profit health insurance companies will need to get their money somehow, and they’ll turn to you, the people who are still paying into the system and are likely using their health insurance each year. Your premiums will go up instead — and they’re likely to go up drastically.

This isn’t exclusively a Democrat problem either. Insurance companies don’t care about your political affiliation. They don’t check to see who you voted for before raising your rates.

It’s not fair, but there’s not much we can do about it.

That is, unless we join those 7 million people protesting next time around.