Health-care plan must offer security

Earlier this month my congressman, Steve Stivers, voted in favor of the American Health Care Act, and I have a question. I, like 30,000 other Americans, including a younger family member, live every day with cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder.

Our well-being depends on highly specialized and costly care. For context, one specific drug I take costs nearly $30,000 a month. The AHCA drastically weakens protections in the health-care marketplace for folks with preexisting conditions.

While insurance companies will still be required to provide insurance, they will no longer be required to deliver that insurance at the same price to pre-existing condition enrollees, meaning I, my relative, and many millions of additional Americans living with a pre-existing condition can expect the price of health insurance to increase on the individual marketplace.

I understand that the healthcare system in the United States is complex and the debate is nuanced, but should I pay more for health insurance due to a genetic disorder that I randomly inherited? Should the thousands of Stivers’ constituents in the same situation?

Or should we, as a central Ohio community and broader American family, build a health-care system that emphasizes coverage, provides security to those who need it most, and recognizes that access to affordable health insurance is deadly serious for many people — and not a tool for scoring political points.

Matt Hennessey Columbus