Letters

Hill will protect right to health care

Our congressional leaders have accomplished something that multiple leaders before have failed to do: expand health care to 32 million Americans.

Health care reform is more than just a law that expands access to health insurance; it’s a plan that will provide our friends and family with security and hope in an ever-changing world.

Bottom line: Health care reform may not be perfect, but the benefits and ideology that drive it should be protected at all costs. For example, as a current IU student, the luxury of being under my family’s insurance plan until age 26 provides me with much-needed flexibility as I decide to get a job or apply for graduate school. Not to say that my current situation is life-threatening, but at any moment my health could change and put me in a tough situation.

To ensure that health care legislation remains intact, we must take the political process seriously. Rep. Baron Hill supported this bill and is running for re-election in the 9th District against Republican Todd Young, who wishes to eliminate health care reform altogether. To stand up for our right to health care, we must re-elect Baron Hill.

Brian Rans
IU senior
Intern, Hoosiers for Hill



Regulation beats market solutions on health care

As a recent IU graduate, I find myself asking typical quarter-life crisis questions. What do I want to do with my life? How do I define success?

While these questions can be difficult to address, previous graduates have been forced to ask themselves an additional question: Where will I get health insurance?

Since many internships and entry-level positions don’t include health care, previous graduates were forced to buy plans on the open market or go without coverage. However, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act now requires insurance companies to allow dependent children to stay on their parents’ insurance policies until age 26.As a youth sports coach with an unpaid internship, I am glad to have this option.

It worries me that Republicans like 9th District Congressional candidate Todd Young have threatened to repeal health care reform if elected.

Young claims that “market-based solutions always work better” than government intervention, but insurance companies would not be making any changes without pressure from our elected representatives.

Thanks to Democrats like Rep. Baron Hill, insurance companies will soon have to extend coverage for dependent children and end the practice of rescissions — canceling someone’s coverage after they get sick.

I guess Republicans consider rescissions good business. I prefer good regulation.

Shaun Figueiredo
IU alumnus, class of 2010
Intern, Hoosiers for Hill