ICYMI: Dr. Tom Sherman Highlights Chris Pappas’s Work to Lower Health Care Costs

MANCHESTER, NH — In case you missed it, former New Hampshire State Senator Dr. Tom Sherman penned an op-ed in the Union Leader highlighting Congressman Chris Pappas’s work to lower health care costs and protect access to affordable coverage for Granite Staters. The op-ed contrasts Pappas’s record with John Sununu and Scott Brown’s opposition to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and ACA tax credits.

Read the op-ed here and below: 

Union Leader: Dr. Thomas M. Sherman: Why we can’t afford Sununu or Brown

  • Gas is hovering near $4 a gallon, housing and child care are too expensive to even think about, and property taxes are through the roof … and now they want to take your health care away!
  • As a doctor, I’ve seen what that means firsthand. In 2011, a patient came into the office who had lost everything — her job, her home, and eventually her family — after medical bills piled up beyond what she could pay, and her chronic illness just got worse without treatment.
  • Stories like hers made clear how devastating it can be when people can’t access care, helping to drive the push for Medicaid Expansion in New Hampshire so patients across the state could finally get coverage. When that law passed and patients were able to get the treatment they needed, it was a powerful reminder of what access to health care can mean for someone trying to rebuild their life.
  • Those experiences have shaped a long-standing Granite State commitment to protecting the health of our neighbors — people who work hard, support their families, and deserve to know they can get care when they need it. Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) became law, New Hampshire’s uninsured rate has dropped by more than half. This year, record enrollment in the ACA marketplace shows just how critical this coverage is for thousands of people across our state.
  • But now in the Granite State and in Congress, the Republican majorities are reneging on that commitment. They are kicking New Hampshire residents off of their health care coverage by making it too expensive and imposing copays and work requirements on our most at-risk neighbors. They have not extended ACA tax credits, and their budget bill last spring will even impact Medicare cost and availability.
  • Cheerleading this process are Senate candidates John Sununu and Scott Brown, who consistently oppose efforts to make health care more accessible and affordable. Sununu recently called extending the ACA tax credits “out of step with New Hampshire” and “totally unnecessary.” But tens of thousands of Granite Staters rely on those credits to afford their coverage. Brown has remained one of the ACA’s most vocal opponents and backed Trump’s budget plan that may devastate health care especially in rural areas like the North Country.
  • New Hampshire families, seniors, and individuals already struggling with rising costs could lose access to affordable care under either of these Republican candidates. At a time when our state is facing a crisis of affordability, threatening the very coverage that helps people stay healthy and working would be a serious mistake.
  • Chris Pappas takes a different approach. He has a record of working alongside New Hampshire leaders to expand access to care, including the effort that made Medicaid Expansion possible for more than 100,000 residents. In Congress, he has continued that work by pushing to lower prescription drug costs and fighting to preserve ACA tax credits because he understands that care people cannot afford is care they cannot access.
  • New Hampshire can’t afford Sununu or Brown, who have made clear they would take us backward. Granite Staters deserve leaders like Chris Pappas, who will continue to work hard for our communities by protecting access to health care.

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