Yesterday, my friend Erich Arvidson had a column published in the Columbia Missourian. Last year, Erich lost both of his parents. His dad got sick first. He didn't have much money, he wasn't old enough to qualify for Medicare, and he was in that large group of Missourians that can't qualify for Medicaid either because we're one of the few states that hasn't expanded the program. He had to make choices about lifesaving treatment because of a number in his bank account. He didn't make it.

Erich started organizing to collect signature to expand Medicaid in Missouri so that more folks could access affordable health care. He shared his story, met with so many folks who had similar ones, and vowed to stop this from happening in our state.

But then Erich's mom got sick. She didn't have money either, and now the family had medical debt to pay too. She passed away because she couldn't get the treatment she needed.

Erich asked me to help him share his story. When I did, one of my former co-workers at the Attorney General's Office shared hers. A year before Erich's parents passed, her dad was feeling terrible but refused to go to the hospital because he didn't have insurance. His heart was failing, and we were failing him. He didn't make it.

Little did we know that the office where we both worked would spend taxpayer money to keep taxpayers from getting the health care we need.

Last night, our appointed Attorney General doubled down on getting rid of our health care protections, ending health care coverage for millions of the most vulnerable Americans, and eliminating fraud protections.

Our Attorney General joined onto a brief - an entirely voluntary brief that he is choosing to make Missouri support - to end the Affordable Care Act in its entirety.

The Affordable Care Act included an individual mandate, a requirement that folks get insurance or pay a penalty. This was a controversial piece of the law. The President ended up eliminating that penalty, so the individual mandate exists only on a piece of paper now.

It's one thing to argue that the individual mandate is unconstitutional. It's another to argue that the ENTIRE law needs to be thrown out because of that one piece of the law that isn't even in effect anymore.

That's what our Attorney General is doing.

What's in the rest of the law?
▪️Protections for folks with pre-existing conditions
▪️Allowing young Americans to stay on their parents' insurance for longer
▪️Increased public protections against fraud in health care

And the one that likely had the biggest impact: Medicaid Expansion.

Medicaid Expansion allowed tens of millions of our most vulnerable Americans to access affordable health care. It expanded access to substance abuse treatment, allowed folks barely making it to stop going uninsured, kept rural hospitals open, saved lives, and, as a result, had big benefits to the economy.

Missouri is one of the few states that has not expanded Medicaid. Instead, we've been busy wrongfully kicking children off Medicaid, violating the law, and then claiming big savings so we can give them all away to huge corporations. Why? Because our politicians care more about checks than our children.

That includes our Attorney General.

He could have argued that the ineffectual mandate is unconstitutional. Fine. I'm not a fan of mandates to purchase items from private companies either.

But to then argue that we should get rid of health care coverage for millions of the most disadvantaged Americans when that has nothing to do with the mandate just to prove a political point to big donors!?

It's terrible policy. It's terrible leadership. It's a terrible sellout of our democracy.

This is what's at stake in this election. It's more than politics. It's real.

On August 4, I need you to help us get this done.
On August 4, I need you to vote to do what our politicians won't do: Expand health care coverage for over 200,000 of our most vulnerable neighbors.

On August 4, I need you to vote YES on 2 and YES on Elad.

You know I'm going to give this guy hell in this election. You know no one is going to work harder, get out the vote harder, go absolutely everywhere and to places where this guy won't show his face because he can't stand accountability.

We're going to take back Missouri from this trash, and we're finally going to have a government that works for We the People.

On August 4, vote YES on 2 and YES on Elad.

On November 3, finish the job and let's get an Attorney General who will always fight for us.

You can request your primary ballot at VoteMissouri.org. If you'd like to vote for me, if you're ready for an anti-corruption Attorney General, whatever party you're in, please request a Democratic ballot.

And if you'd like to support our campaign to take back Missouri, visit EladGross.org

If there's anything you need, let me know. Reply to this email or send me a new email at [email protected].