I have some breaking news for members of Congress on both sides of the aisle. Your decisions impact real people. The debate over healthcare should not be driven by politics, but making the most sound decisions that create the greatest positive impact on people’s lives.
Few things are as personal as one’s healthcare. Every one of us is impacted in some way by an illness or a pre-existing condition at some point in our lives. So, you would think that our elected representatives would treat crafting health policy with sober responsibility it deserves. It is clear though, that both Congress and the White House care more about self-serving political victories than protecting the vulnerable Americans for whom they work.
Republicans and Democrats alike acted like petulant kids from rival junior high schools. While the GOP listened to the “Rocky” theme before the vote, Democrats were singing “Hey, hey, hey, goodbye” when the AHCA officially passed. The Red Team took their victory lap down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House where President Trump might as well have poured Gatorade over Paul Ryan’s head in the Rose Garden.
The GOP is basking, albeit prematurely, in the perceived victory of fulfilling a campaign promise to repeal and replace Obamacare swiftly. The Democrats have become sarcastically emboldened by the prospect that House Republicans will be forced to own taking away needed health benefits from many Americans who voted for Trump. Team Blue and Team Red have very different views on how to solve the healthcare crisis, but they do have one very important thing in common.
Both parties only seem to care about how the AHCA will impact them in the 2018 midterm elections.
In the meantime, there’s a woman in Ohio wondering if she will be able to afford her infusions to keep her rheumatoid arthritis at bay so she can keep working, and a father with a disabled child is worried that his employer may change their health policy to have lifetime limits on coverage.
Members of Congress, the American people don’t care about your inside-the-Beltway victory, because they don’t have the luxury to care. You work for all of us, not just your party. The flagrant partisanship of yesterday’s healthcare vote in the House is a sad but accurate reflection of everything that is wrong with Washington.
Capri Cafaro (@thehonorablecsc) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog. She is a former member of the Ohio State Senate, where she was the Senate minority leader. She is now an Executive in Residence at American University’s School of Public Affairs.
If you would like to write an op-ed for the Washington Examiner, please read our guidelines on submissions here.
