My Take: Does Huizenga care about his disabled constituents?
For over a year now, I’ve read story after story about the incredible investments being made in our community, thanks to the American Rescue Plan. I’ve seen how Gov. Whitmer is using funds from the bipartisan infrastructure law to rebuild West Michigan. I’ve watched how President Biden and Democrats are working to lower costs for Michigan seniors by bolstering the social security program and lowering costs for lifesaving prescription drugs like insulin.
Each and every time I see news highlighting what Democrats have done to help people like me, I remember that Republicans like Bill Huizenga not only voted against these measures every step of the way, but also have a plan that would dismantle two of the most important programs for Michiganders with disabilities: Medicare and Social Security.
I’ve lived in Michigan for six years. When I first started working here, I was involved in a traumatic incident that left me with a disability I’ve been living with for years now. Because worker’s compensation wasn’t enough to help me pay for my medical bills, I’ve had to rely on Medicare/Medicaid to get affordable health coverage.
Prior to my accident I paid into Social Security and Medicare in every paycheck, because I expected them to be available to me when I needed them most. But Republicans have been relentless in attacking them.
I am one of the 2.1 million Michiganders who rely on Medicare for my health needs. Disabled Michiganders are a huge group of people who receive Medicare benefits. Politicians like Huizenga forget about us when he advocates getting rid of this popular, vital program.
Republicans across the country have rallied around Sen. Rick Scott’s ridiculous plan to sunset Medicare and Social Security. If the Republican Party gets the majority in Congress this November, a Florida man’s thoughtless idea will harm every single Michigan senior and person with disabilities.
Our representative has remained silent on whether or not he supports it, but we deserve answers.
While the GOP releases plans and debates how far they’ll go to line their own pockets, for me, the choice is clear. President Biden and Democrats want to keep Medicare intact and cut costs by making the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share in taxes while also working to lower costs for working families like mine. For the past year, I’ve seen Democrats delivering and remaining focused on helping working families, and now they’re going to bat for our seniors. Meanwhile, we’ve got a guy worth $1.5 million representing a district with an average income of $60,000 telling us our needs are too expensive and the benefits we rely on can’t be saved.
Without Medicare, I would struggle to afford the medication I rely on. This is a really big deal, and Huizenga doesn’t seem to care.
Voters from Holland to Kalamazoo deserve to know if Huizenga supports this plan to take away the hard-earned benefits of his senior constituents. We deserve to know if he will pull the plug on health care for thousands across the new fourth district. We deserve to know if he’ll force thousands of disabled West Michiganders to pay huge costs for health insurance when they could have access to Medicare.
We already know he thinks raising the retirement age, raising our taxes or increasing the cap on how much we can earn, is the only solution to “saving” our benefits, but does he agree with this GOP plan that it should be eliminated outright?
Re-electing Huizenga would mean putting Medicare and Social Security in danger — Democrats will protect those popular programs. Put simply, Michiganders who rely on Medicare or Social Security can’t afford Republican control and we can’t afford Bill Huizenga.
— Javier Juarez is a resident of Allegan County.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: My Take: Does Huizenga care about his disabled constituents?
