In the first week of October, 1979, four babies – Keith, Katrina, Jared, and Christy – were born at Thomas Memorial Hospital in northeast Custer County. We were lucky enough to live in a small community where we were born together, started kindergarten together, and graduated together. It’s a special thing most folks can’t say in metropolitan areas. A decade after our births, that hospital shut down for four months. Thanks to the hard work of the local economic development authority, a citizen-authorized sales tax, and kids like us selling Thomas Terrier license plates, our community of 1,246 people won the fight to regain access to local healthcare. However, despite the valiant efforts of an entire community, the hospital shut its doors for good before our sophomore year.
In rural economies, many hard-working Oklahomans fall into the coverage gap between making too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford to buy insurance for their family. Many are employed by small business owners who try to do right by their employees, but can’t always afford to provide health benefits. Those lucky enough to have employer-sponsored insurance lose that benefit if they lose their job. These Oklahomans work hard for their families and are the reason we must vote Yes on 802.
As a patient and a board member of a community health center, I’m privileged to witness the front lines of healthcare in our state. Currently, 21 community health centers service over 250,000 Oklahomans. When you consider many of these patients are uninsured because of layoffs or the frustrating coverage gap, the situation becomes dire.
Over the past several years, Oklahomans have paid billions in federal taxes without getting anything in return for access to quality health care. Voting Yes on 802 returns over $1 billion home to our state every year and expands health care access to over 200,000 of our neighbors. It’s time to bring our money home from Washington, D.C., use it to pay health care workers for the job they’re already doing, and do what’s right for Oklahomans.
As an advocate for this cause, I often answer questions about the financial cost of health care expansion. While a Yes vote for 802 puts our tax dollars back to work and adds thousands of jobs to our economy, so much more is at stake than money. Another question we must consider is, what is the human cost of not expanding access to care?
What is the human cost of unaddressed health issues to the hourly wage worker who is the sole provider for her family? What is the emotional and educational cost to the sick kid of a retail worker who can’t afford to take off work for an appointment? What are the mental health costs to a family facing a mountain of debt because of an unavoidable trip to the emergency room?
When our loved ones are in their care, health care workers don’t ask about the financial cost because they understand the human cost. The human cost isn’t partisan. Those of us who were born and raised in rural Oklahoma know that we look out for each other because we’re all we have. We can’t lose another hospital. We can’t lose another clinic.
With your Yes vote, we can begin to heal families and communities on the brink of a health crisis and a state on the brink of financial loss. We can give small town hospitals – like the one in which Keith, Katrina, Christy, and I were born – a chance to stay alive without an annual GoFundMe. Yes on 802 makes sense for patients and for pocketbooks.
Jared Deck
Norman, OK