To the Editor:

On Saturday, March 11, over 75 protesters gathered in front of the Potsdam Post Office to tell Elise Stefanik to vote no for the Republican’s American Healthcare Act (AHCA).

With less than 36 hours notice, these individuals braved near-zero degree weather to stand up for the idea that healthcare is a basic human right, not a commodity. Despite protests, Stefanik has given tepid support to the bill.

The protester’s fears have since been vindicated by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The CBO estimates that 24 million people will go off their health insurance in the next decade, raising the number of uninsured to a total of 52 million. By 2026, that will be roughly 1/7th of the American population without insurance.

The downside of people losing their insurance is that they still use healthcare. They go to the ER when they are sick, but they can’t pay. The hospital makes up its losses by charging everyone else extra. We collectively pay for one another’s healthcare costs one way or another: either via the insurance system, or via overcharging. Overcharging is much less efficient. Therefore, A high number of uninsured is more costly for all of us.

The poor and elderly are going to be hurt most by the AHCA. The CBO estimates that a 50-64 year old earning $26,500 paid about $1,700 under Obamacare. Now, it would be $14,600- half of their annual income. Uninsured rates are expected to almost double among people who earned 200% of the poverty line. St. Lawrence County’s poverty rate was 18.5% in 2015- this plan will result in many of our neighbors becoming uninsured or saddled with unaffordable plans.

The AHCA is full of strange decisions that would end up raising insurance costs for people in the North Country. If you lose your insurance for a while, you end up being charged 30% extra when you get back on coverage. This makes it so fewer people will seek out insurance, meaning fewer healthy people will be able to cover the sick. This drives cost up. What’s more, the richest 1 percent in the country get a tax cut of $200,000 per year. These taxes helped subsidize everyone else’s insurance.

Keep an eye on how Elise votes: She is being forced to choose between tax cuts to the rich and the health of her own people. Let’s hope she sees that the protesters had a point.

Matt Manierre

Potsdam