Deserving of coverage

This summer, at a gathering of over a thousand in Central Arkansas, I asked those in the room with a preexisting condition to stand. Around half the room rose.

Then I asked those who have an immediate family member with a pre-existing condition to stand. The entire room was on their feet.

Standing at the podium, I was already on my feet, but I too would have risen on the first ask. Last year, I was diagnosed with and overcame bladder cancer. And now I, like 1 million Arkansans, live with a pre-existing condition. For us and our families, the notion of having access to care without going bankrupt or dying is a daily reality.

There is now a lawsuit seeking to allow insurance companies to charge exorbitant amounts of money to those of us who, through no fault of our own, have a pre-existing condition, whether asthma, diabetes, cancer, or something else.

While the lawsuit is dangerous, it merely highlights the ongoing attack from Washington on Americans’ ability to have affordable health care. Our own representative, Congressman Hill, has voted dozens of times to do just what the lawsuit would—make care much more expensive or remove it entirely from hundreds of thousands of Arkansans. Last year, with the vote of Congressman Hill, the House passed one of these bills, which even the president called “mean,” and then celebrated afterward with grins and portraits in the Rose Garden.

Congressman Hill recently stated he has “no regrets” about that vote. We deserve better. Pre-existing conditions deserve coverage. Americans deserve representatives who fight to protect their constituents’ access to health care—not vote to take it away.

I say this not for myself but for the million Arkansans with pre-existing conditions and the families across this state and country because for them, this issue is truly a matter of life and death. CLARKE TUCKER Little Rock State Rep. Clarke Tucker is running for Congress in the 2nd District.