CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Health care is a human right, not a luxury. As a medical student, I see what happens when people lack access to care: manageable chronic diseases can turn into life-threatening catastrophes. Unpredictable events – like a car accident or appendicitis – become not only medical emergencies, but financial nightmares.

As a future doctor, I know what will happen if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. Mainers will get sicker. Many will go bankrupt. Some will die.

That’s why, on Monday, I traveled to the nation’s capital on behalf of over 4,500 medical students and other future health professionals to urge Congress to repair the ACA – not repeal it. There, I met with a lawmaker some have deemed the “most important person” in the health care debate: Maine’s very own senator, Susan Collins.

Over the last few weeks, Sen. Collins has publicly expressed her reservations, even co-sponsoring an amendment to delay the proposed ACA repeal timeline. When I met with her, she told me she knows how important it is to ensure coverage for Mainers. However, when push came to shove Wednesday evening, Sen. Collins voted in favor of ripping health insurance away from millions.

Perhaps she forgot the numbers. By some estimates, 95,000 Mainers could lose coverage if Congress repeals the ACA without immediate replacement. Over 500,000 Mainers, almost 40 percent of the state, currently have pre-existing conditions; their insurance coverage, no matter where it comes from, could be threatened by an ACA repeal. Amidst the conversations about arcane health policy, it is easy to forget the crux of this debate: Is it acceptable to leave our friends, families and neighbors without the dignity of knowing they can access a doctor when they need one?

For me, this is personal. I come from a family deeply invested in the well-being of Maine communities. My father, Martin, served as majority whip in the state Legislature in the 1980s. My mother, Anne, has worked to restore fisheries and encourage economic development along the coast for over 30 years. My younger sister, Rosamond, spent a summer in college working on Mike Michaud’s gubernatorial campaign. Their examples inspired me to enter medicine. When I finish my training, I want to return to Maine and serve the communities that raised me by keeping Mainers healthy and giving them the opportunity to live to their fullest potential.

Sen. Collins probably had similar aspirations when she first ran for office. That’s why it’s so disappointing to see her contemplating placing Mainers in harm’s way.

I’ve heard from Mainers across the state who depend upon the ACA: lobstermen who got coverage for the first time, a pregnant woman who lost her employee-sponsored insurance and a quadriplegic man living on a fixed income who didn’t qualify for MaineCare.

I heard from obstetrician-gynecologists in Augusta and Biddeford who have seen appointments for pap smears, mammograms and long-acting contraception increase since the ACA and are worried that if it is repealed, Maine women will lose access to these absolutely essential services.

They all agreed that while the ACA isn’t perfect, it’s providing critical protection. A vote to repeal it without a better plan is a vote against Maine.

Ensuring that every Mainer has access to modern medical care is not a radical ask. Every decent society takes care of its citizens in this basic way.

I am concerned that Sen. Collins has lost her moral compass and will sacrifice the lives of the most vulnerable Mainers to curry favor with Republican leadership. I fear she is placing party politics over the well-being of her constituents, and my future patients.

As a medical student and, more importantly, as a Mainer, I would find that morally reprehensible. Sen. Collins herself has said that ACA repeal without replacement would be irresponsible. Doing that in the face of political pressure would display profound cowardice.

Maine deserves a leader who can stand up against her own party when lives are on the line. If Sen. Collins is not willing to display this necessary courage, she has failed us as our representative. We must demand more.

My parents taught me that to be a good Mainer is to look out for my friends and neighbors and to make sure no one is left behind. I’m only asking that Sen. Collins does the same.

 

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