Though some regular readers may disagree, I’ve always tried to keep my analysis of politics from becoming too personal.
I’ve had some knock-down, drag-outs with certain people over the years, disagreements which often ended up playing out in this space. Those arguments may have seemed heated at the time, but I never walked away hating anyone, because I still believe that, thought we may come at issues from different places, fundamentally, we are still all in this together.
That belief has been something I’ve managed to extend to every branch of government I’ve covered — local, state and federal — and one which I’ve clung to during even the most partisan and divisive periods in our history. It’s a belief that allowed me to encourage us all to give new presidents, even the current one, a chance, even when few seemed willing to do so.
A big reason why I’ve been able to hold this somewhat naïve world view is because, up until last week, no public policy proposal had ever directly threatened my life — a streak which ended with the recent House passage of the new Republican-sponsored health care reform bill.
That bill, if approved as passed, would make it impossible for millions of Americans with pre-existing health conditions to be able to secure affordable health coverage. The spin doctors who’ve been out pushing this bill since the vote say that analysis is inaccurate, that the bill doesn’t actually throw anyone off the rolls, per se.
But whether people are kicked off or can’t afford to pay the very expensive resultant premium increases, the results are the same — fewer people who need treatment the most will be able to get it, and many are likely to die as a result.
I could very well be one of them.
I have a pre-existing condition, a couple actually. The details of how I got there are well known by now. It happened six years ago, and I’m still kicking, thanks only to the grace of God, a supportive family, and an outstanding medical team at Baystate. But another big piece of the puzzle is an ongoing medical maintenance and prescription drug protocol, without which, my chances of living long are greatly reduced.
There are those who will say I did it to myself, and I’d have to agree to a point. I’ve always carried extra pounds and my eating habits have not always been the best. But if you talk to my doctors, they will tell you that the biggest reason I hit the wall was from strain of overwork.
I’ve been working since I was 15 years old, often more than one job at a time. I love it. Always have. I think I get it from my mother, who was about as Type-A a personality as you were likely to encounter.
It got worse when I got into radio full-time, where, prior to my 2011 meltdown, I was like a man possessed. How else do you explain getting up at three every morning, hosting a one-man morning show, working all day and then often covering meetings at night, out every weekend, often 7 days a week? I completely lost perspective and when it caught up with me, it hurt, and left me with residual damage that will require medical maintenance for the rest of my days.
My story may be somewhat different, but there are millions living under similar tenuous circumstances who are now faced with having their care threatened by what appears to be a more of a Republican effort to make a political point than creating a better health care system.
Even the most ardent supporters of this legislation went into that vote with the understanding that, though it may pass in the House, it would never get through the Senate. But at least those who voted “yea” would be able to go back to their constituents and say they tried.
I wonder how the 24 million people due to be affected by this policy change feel about being treated like pawns in this upper-crust game of partisan, one-upsmanship? I can guarantee you that a lot of those people voted for Trump, never expecting that this would be what he would consider his first legislative “victory.”
Maybe they were the naïve ones, in retrospect.
It remains to be seen what pearls of health care wisdom the Senate will come up with over the next few months. Ordinarily, I might say it doesn’t matter, but that’s not true. For people like me, no more important debate is likely to occur, and what ends up on the president’s desk could very much have life or death implications for people who are just trying to survive.
It doesn’t get a whole lot more personal than that.
Chris Collins is the Franklin County News Bureau Chief for WHAI, WPVQ and WHMP Radio. He is a former staff reporter for The Recorder and is a Greenfield native.