To the Editor:

This is in response to last week’s story, “Democratic candidates in WNC call for immediate Medicaid expansion”

As a youth organizer with NextGen North Carolina, I am fed up with the narrative that we can’t afford to provide health care to everyone. It shouldn’t have taken a global pandemic for us to realize that our health care system is designed to leave lower income people behind. Universal health care is the exact type of service that the government should be providing. 

The fear of suffocating medical debt has created a situation in which the uninsured and underinsured avoid hospitals unless absolutely necessary, neglecting valuable preventative care. Thanks to our elected officials like Sen.Thom Tillis, who repeatedly vote against the expansion of coverage, corporate greed is being prioritized over human life.

The young people I speak to everyday are determined to use their votes and voices to create a world in which everyone has access to quality healthcare. If you agree that health care is a human right, then I encourage you to join NextGen North Carolina as we register young people to vote and elect candidates who care about people more than profits.

Nicole Skinner

Asheville